-1 Kit, Kels and I hurried towards the castle as the rain got heavier, the driving wind making progress difficult. We slipped more than once and by the time we finally got to the imposing oak doors we resembled swamp monsters more than anything else.
"Where's Psych?" I demanded, looking around for my cat. "Psych! Psycho! Where the fuck are you, you stupid cat?"
"Don't shout," muttered Kels uneasily.
"Why not? I want my damn cat back!" I grumbled.
A second later a siren wailed, louder than anything I had ever heard - including when I saw SiKth live and was standing right by the speakers. It hurt my ears and Kels, Kit and I covered our ears and yelled in pain. A moment after that the oak doors swung open and we were confronted by a tall, athletic looking man with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail, a single braid hanging from his temple, and a goatee beard. He was wearing scarlet and gold robes and brandishing a stick at us threateningly.
"Intruders!" he yelled. "Spies! You seek to threaten us?"
"We're not threatening anybody!" yelled Kit.
"What?"
"I said, we're not threatening anybody!"
"Oh, Merlin's sake, I can't…" He waved the stick and suddenly the noise stopped. "Right. Where were we?"
"I was trying to say that we're not threatening anybody, my friend here lost her cat and we're trying to find it."
"And can I just add that we didn't want to be here," said Kels. "We don't even know where here is."
"You don't know where here is?" said the man incredulously. "Now why don't I believe you?"
"I don't care if you believe us or not, are you going to let me look for my cat?" I demanded, going to move past the man. He stepped back and held the stick in front of my face. I stared at it and raised my eyebrow. "What are you going to do with that, stick it up my nose?" He gave me a look that suggested that he didn't quite believe what he was hearing.
"Wait here," he ordered and disappeared from view, the door slamming shut; I had to jump out of the way hurriedly to avoid being crushed.
"Well that was a nice welcome," remarked Kit, who folded her arms and gazed up at the arch over the porch. "Why does this place feel familiar?"
"It feels… weird," said Kels, shrugging as she failed to find the words to describe what this place felt like.
"Powerful?" I suggested. There was a tinny sort of tang in the air. "You can almost taste the magic," I said, and immediately wondered why I'd said it. "Kit, you're the magic one, what do you think?"
"I… don't know," she said slowly. "But I could swear I've been here before."
"Me too." I folded my arms and clicked my tongue impatiently. "Matey boy's being a long time."
"He's probably waiting for us to freeze to death," said Kels, who was shivering, which wasn't surprising given that she was only wearing a tank and a thin, threadbare cardigan and her jeans were soaked and covered in mud. I lit a cigarette while we waited and hummed a few bars of Godsmack's Awake.
As soon as I had finished my cigarette the door opened again and the man had returned, accompanied by a tall, thin, austere woman with silver-streaked red hair pulled back in a bun. Her pointy hat had so many hatpins in it that it could have been used as a weapon all by itself. She was wearing robes of blue and yellow and was looking faintly amused.
"Aren't you going to invite our guests in, Godric?" she asked, her tone smooth and melodious.
"Guests? But they could be spies, traitors, anything! Look at the way they're dressed, for Merlin's sake!"
"I must admit it is a little unusual," said the woman, looking like she was enjoying herself immensely. "But you know what students are like."
"This one's far too old to be a student!" snapped Godric, gesturing at me with his stick. "And they claim not to know where they are, which I find highly unlikely!"
"Don't know where they are?" echoed the woman, looking puzzled. "But surely everyone knows Hogwarts, and they must be magical to see the castle…"
"Look, I don't know where we are or why we're here. I was at home and I found this ring, and next thing I knew we were here." I showed Godric and the lady the ring on my finger and Godric's eyes widened in shock.
"I knew it! You had to be his lot, from looking at you. Salazar!" He turned on his heel and ran off down the corridor, his robes billowing behind him.
"Well now that he's out of the way, why don't you come in? You must be freezing," invited the woman.
"Thanks," said Kit, leading the way into the castle.
We followed the lady into a room off of the entrance hall. It had lots of old-fashioned oak furniture and burgundy velvet drapes. She pulled a stick similar to that of Godric's out of her belt and gave it a flick; within seconds a wood fire was roaring merrily in the hearth and we had steaming hot cups of tea in front of us. Common sense told me that what they actually had were magic wands, but they still looked like sticks to me and my childish brain refused to give up the notion. I stifled a giggle and glanced at the girls. Kels had started to relax as she dried out but Kit was still glancing around her warily as if expecting the drapes to attack.
"My name is Rowena Ravenclaw," said the lady. "What are your names, please?" she asked, addressing me, presumably because I was the eldest.
"I'm Elli Carne; these are my friends Kit James and Kelly Black."
"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the finest school in all of Britannia," Ravenclaw said, extending her arms and beaming proudly. "I helped to found this school, along with Godric Gryffindor, who you have already met, and our friends Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin. You say the ring bought you here? May I see it, please?" I felt a certain reluctance to part with the ring but pulled it off and threw it to her. She caught it deftly and examined it, muttering under her breath and tapping it with her wand. Nothing happened. "Hm. Well whatever magic was in the ring has been exhausted. Where did you come by it?"
"I found it in my mother's jewellery box. I'd never seen it before. May I have it back, please?" I added quickly as I felt a jealous fit building up inside as I watched Rowena twirling the ring around in her fingers. She stared at me shrewdly for a moment before handing it back to me wordlessly. I slipped it on my finger and immediately felt calm again.
"Not like you to get possessive about a ring," remarked Kels.
"I don't know, you should have seen her when I tried on her fire opal ring last month, I thought she was going to stab me with my own stake," joked Kit.
"It's mine! My own! My prrrecioussss," I purred, stroking the ring and causing the other two to laugh. Rowena merely stared as if we'd gone insane.
"What year is it, please?" asked Kit suddenly.
"It is the turn of the century, 999," replied Rowena, who was looking more confused by the second. Kit swore softly.
"So we've been transported back in time?" she asked, looking at me. I shrugged.
"Seems that way. It's the year 2006 where we're from," I added in response to the look Rowena was giving us.
"2006? But that can't be possible!" protested Rowena, looking shocked. "Unless… unless there is no Hogwarts in your time?" She shook her head. "No. I can't believe that. This school was built to withstand anything that might happen in the future. The school will endure, that I am sure of. So how is it that you do not know of its existence?" She shook her head. "You can see the castle clearly, can't you?"
"Of course. It's pretty," said Kels lamely.
"Right. A test, then." She handed me her wand and I took it from her gingerly.
"What am I meant to do with this thing?" I asked, gesturing wildly. There was a loud bang and a flash and the bookcase behind Rowena disintegrated into dust. "Cool!" I handed it to Kit who flicked it lazily and conjured a fountain of wine. She nodded thoughtfully and gave it to Kels, who conjured a flock of tweeting birds. The next second there was a yowl and Psycho came charging into the room, trying to get at the birds.
"Psycho!" I yelled joyfully and tried to hug the cat, receiving a bloodied and scratched arm for my troubles. "At least I found the bitch," I muttered resentfully, rubbing at my arm.
"Well at least that proves that you have talent, but… Oh, Salazar! There you are! And Helga!" I looked up. Godric had re-entered the room, followed by a witch and a wizard. The witch was short and plump with a mass of blonde curls and a genial smile on her face, dressed in robes of yellow and black. The wizard was extremely handsome, facially similar to Godric but with black hair, and he was clean-shaven. His hair was tied at the nape of his neck with a green ribbon and he was wearing robes of green and silver. His already pale face drained of all colour as he spotted me.
"Selene?" he asked in a deep, resonant voice that sent a shiver down my spine. "But I thought-"
"I'm not Selene. I'm Elli," I said carefully. He gawped at me for a moment before his mouth snapped shut and he gave a little bow.
"Forgive me. You look so like her, I thought- but that is no matter. Salazar Slytherin, at your service." There was a snort behind him and a cough that sounded very much like 'prat'; Gryffindor was leaning against the wall with his arms folded and watching Slytherin with amusement.
"Helga Hufflepuff," said the blonde witch, smiling warmly at us. I smiled back. I liked her immediately.
Kit, Kels and I sat in silence while Rowena told the others our story. It was met with derision from Gryffindor and interest from the other two. They then started arguing about what to do with us; Gryffindor was all for chucking us in the lake and leaving us to the mercy of the Giant Squid, but common sense and Helga intervened and in the end it was agreed that we obviously belonged here and Kit and Kels were to study here. I seemed to be a bit of a sticking point, however; I was too old to be a student and hadn't had sufficient training to be a teacher. Kit, Kels and I gave up trying to follow the discussion and Kels conjured a pack of cards which I shuffled and dealt out between us, and we started a game of Rummy.
"Oh, I don't care!" said Gryffindor loudly after a while, making me jump and causing me to drop my cards.
"Oi! I had a good hand there!" I muttered as I gathered them up with a sigh. Gryffindor glared at me and I grinned at him.
"The ring says she's one of yours, Salazar. Take her and do with her as you please."
"Hey! I'm not some object, you know!" I protested.
"No, you're an interloper and by rights we should have you locked in the dungeon. However, Salazar lives in the dungeon so you can stay with him and that'll just have to do." He swept from the room and I glared after him.
"I'm really beginning to dislike that odious little berk," I sighed. Slytherin chuckled and gestured for me to go to him. I stood up and approached him warily.
"I agree with you, Madam. While I am rather fond of my cousin I have to admit that his attitude does get a little wearing at times. May I see the ring?" he asked. I held out my hand and he examined the ring with interest. "Yes, this is mine. I gave it to Selene a long time ago." He gave me a close, guarded look and I shivered again. "We shall discuss this at a later date, however. I have to go and arrange your quarters. And in the meantime, you!" He pointed at Kit, who jumped, looking startled. "You shall be in my House. If you wait here, I shall send a Prefect along to show you to your dormitory and common room. Elli, I shall return shortly." He swooped off, leaving us with the two women, who smiled at us.
"Kelly, you shall be in my House," said Ravenclaw after a short silence. "I too will find a prefect to escort you to your new home. If you'll excuse me." She left the room and Helga got to her feet and began tidying away the cups.
"I do hope you'll like it here," she said. "Rowena, Salazar, Godric and I have spent a lot of time and effort into making this the foremost academy of magical tuition in the known world. If it is agreeable with you, I would be delighted to tutor you in the basics of magic and help you to harness your powers in between your usual classes. If you would like to meet me after breakfast tomorrow we can discuss your classes. And Elli, if you find yourself tiring of Salazar's company - I'm afraid he can be a dreadful bore at times! - I would be more than happy to have an assistant in Care of Magical Creatures."
"Thanks very much," I replied and she smiled again as she bustled out with the dirty cups.
"Well, what do you think?" I asked, once the room was clear.
"I think the first thing we do is find out why we're here," said Kit automatically. "We need to do some research and Elli, get as much information as you can out of Slytherin. He seems to like you for some reason, maybe you're related or something, he might talk to you."
"I will do," I promised. "I'll also hit the library; there might be something in there that will help."
We were interrupted by the arrival of a tall, dark-haired girl and two identical, blond, aristocratic looking boys. The girl scooped Kels up and ushered her off and the twins stopped in front of Kit and executed two identical, highly theatrical bows.
"Draconis and Pellerin Malfoy at your service," said the one on the right.
"You'll be joining us in the Slytherin common room."
"That's this way." They each grabbed hold of one of Kit's arms and dragged her out of the door; moments later there was a cry of pain that signified Kit's disapproval at being manhandled in this manner. I laughed and leaned back in my chair, waiting for Slytherin to return and idly twirling the ring on my finger. Psycho jumped up onto my lap and I scratched her behind the ears as I stared at the fire, lost in thought. I had a lot of things that I was dying to ask, but first and foremost had to be, who the hell was Selene and what had she to do with me?