Chapter 3 - Meeting Dumbledore
I stuck my hand out in front of him, but it looked like he wasn't going to take it. He just looked at it. What is with this guy?
"What?" I asked shyly. He looked up to meet my eyes and still said nothing for a few seconds.
"Draco Malfoy." He answered suddenly taking my hand. But his attitude had changed. his confused look on his face was gone and he looked coldly into my eyes, showing me no emotion. What happened to the guy I met a few seconds ago? The boy standing in front of me right now wasn't even human anymore.
"Nice to meet you." I said politely, but everything changed. I couldn't find a trace of humanity in him anymore. It looked like he just pulled a mask over his head. He just nodded in response and turned to leave.
"Wait!" I yelled at him. "Could you still tell us the password?"
"Chocolate frogs." He answered coldly, and walked away. He didn't even turn around to look at me when he answered. What was up with this guy? I looked at him while he was walking away, until he was out of sight. I still stared at the spot he was standing a few minutes ago. I couldn't get the change he got through in a couple of seconds out of my mind. It just wasn't normal. I heard Ginny say the password to the gargoyle. The statue moved aside and stairs appeared.
"You shouldn't have talked to him, you know." I heard Ginny say.
"Why not?"
"He's evil, even though he looks so cute. It's actually kinda sad."
I just nodded at this, but I didn't really agree with her. He couldn't be really evil, now could he. I just couldn't believe he really was. Ginny knocked on the door and I heard a faint 'come in'. I followed her inside and my eyes got big when I saw the inside of the room. It was full of weird objects, this weird -but beautiful- looking bird kept staring at me, and an elderly man sat behind what was probably his desk. I assumed this was Dumbledore. I didn't really look at him for a long time, since I was intriqued with the objects that were in his office. All thoughts about how weird Draco acted were completely out of my mind. I heard the man cough and turned around to face him. I saw Ginny already sitting in a chair in front of his desk and he motioned for me to do the same. So I did.
"Who's this miss Weasley?" He asked Ginny.
"This is... Amara Manson was it?" I nodded when she said my name. "I think she apparated onto Hogwarts grounds. And I know it isn't possible. But I have reasons to believe she did."
"What did you think I did?" I asked her. I was so confused. What was this...this thing she was talking about. I didn't appalated or whatever she said I did. I looked at the old man and raised an eyebrow. What was going on.
"Miss Weasley, I can assure you that she didn't apparated to Hogwarts. That simply just isn't possible. But I do like to know how she did get here." He said to Ginny without answering my question.
They both turned to look at me but I just couldn't get a worth out of my mouth. O god, what am I supposed to say. But wasn't this what I always wanted. Something out of the ordinary to happen to me. I guess I did wanted that, but now it did I was just feeling confused. I sighed and looked down at my hands.
"I-." I tried, but the words didn't want to come out.
"Yes?" Dumbledore asked. Looking at me as if he saw me for the first time. Well of course he did see me for the first time, but I do think you know what I mean.
"I-I don't know how I got here really." I finally said and looked down at my hands. I wasn't really much of a help to them. More of a burden. I had the urge to cry, since I didn't know if I was able to go home soon, but my eyes refused to let any tears fall.
What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to get home? And my parents. O god, my parents. they must be so worried. I put my head in my hands and closed my eyes. My life is such a mess. I could hear the voices of Dumbledore and Ginny but the meaning of the words didn't really get through. I knew they were talking about me, but I really wasn't interesting about what they were saying. I should be, but I definetely wasn't.
"Miss Manson." I heard Dumbledore say. I looked up at him and hoped he could finally bring me home.
"Could you bring me home." I interupted him. Not really caring if I was impolite. I was tired, alone and confused. I just wanted to go home. I looked at him expectantly.
"I'm sorry miss, but I don't think I know how to. I don't know how you got here and why." He looked at me with kind and sad eyes. I sighed.
"When can I go home then?"
"I really don't know."
I looked down at my hands again. Why was this happening to me. Where was I again. O right, Hogwarts what the hell was Hogwarts? Why can't they just bring me home.
"Where am I?" I finally asked, my curiosity getting the better of me. I looked at Ginny and Dumbledore again. Dumbledore looked back at me with a twinkle in his eyes. Damn, the guy really was weird.
"You're at Hogwarts. School for Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"Haha, right. No for real. What is Hogwarts?" I asked again. School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. HA, what a joke. Who did this guy think he was, trying to fool me. Pff.
"I just told you Miss Manson. It's a school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. I know this is hard to comprehend for you right now. But at this school we learn young people with magical abilities to control them."
I looked at him with complete shock visible on my face. Witchcraft...magical abilities...school. Where did I get myself into. Ok, I know I wanted something abnormal to happen to me. But this was just a little too abnormal. I shook my head and pinched myself, twice, to see if I was dreaming. "Ow!" No, guess not. Not dreaming. O god, this is so fucked up.
"Miss Weasley, could you take Miss Manson to the great hall. I guess it's time for dinner and I'm sure you two are getting hungry. Could you bring her back after dinner to my office?"
Ginny nodded and grabbed my arm. Seeing that I was still in shock and not able to talk for a while. Everything the old man said to me was still going through my head.
"Don't worry, you'll love Hogwarts and the Magic." I heard Ginny say.
I looked at her and said nothing. Maybe she was right, maybe she wasn't. I didn't really care. All I wanted was to go home and have a normal day again. But it seems I wasn't going to go home for a while so I could just make myself a little comfortable in here.
We arrived at 2 big doors and Ginny opened them. The noise I could here just a few seconds ago, was all gone now. The whole hall was looking at us and I felt my knees getting weak. I scanned the crowd and saw a familiar face. Draco Malfoy. He wasn't that hard to spot really, with his silver hair. He glared at me and raised an eyebrow. What is going on with this guy? What did I ever do to him. Pff, whatever. He may be cute, but I will not waste my time with that jerk anymore. Annoying git. I glared at him for a few seconds and then broke eyecontact.
I felt ginny tug at my shirt and leaded me to a table. She sat down and said I could too. I could still feel all those people looking at me but I refused to meet any of their eyes. I just sat down and looked at my plate.
"Why don't you just eat something. You can eat anything you want." I heard Ginny say.
I just nodded and didn't even bother to look up. I put a chickenleg on my plate and a some vegetables. It felt so uncomfortable eating while everyone was staring at me, but thank god people starting talking again. Probably about me, but I didn't care. They can say whatever they want, it's not like they matter to me. Someone stood behind me and I could feel his or her presence, but I didn't feel like acknowledging him or her. Why can't these people just leave me alone. Pff, whatever. But of course, my wishes weren't coming true and the person started talking to me. I guess he was talking to me earlier too, but I just didn't hear him.
"Excuse me." I heard a male's voice say.
I turned around and looked straight at two pairs of emerald green eyes. A boy of about 16 or 17 years old, with messy black hair, kind of skinny and he had this weird looking scar on his forhead.
I started glaring at him and trying to will him away with his eyes. But like I said earlier, faith hasn't been on my side lately.
"What?" I snapped. I know it was kinda mean, but what can I do. People didn't leave me alone, they kept staring and talking about me. And now they even started talking to me. Just fuck off! Give me some peace. Please, I need some time to process this.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to annoy you."
I glared at him.
"But I just wanted to ask you how you, you know, got here. And who you are."
Again, I glared at him. Didn't the guy understand that I didn't want to talk to him.
"I'm Harry Potter, by the way." He said after a few moments of silence. And just as I did with Draco Malfoy an hour ago, he offered his hand for me to shake. I just glared at his hand first and then looked him straight in his eyes. He looked startled for a while, but recovered quickly.
"Amara Manson." I just said. I didn't bother to shake his hand and turned back to my plate again. I know I was rude to him. But he just looked so...so nice and. Well, I don't know. I guess I'm just really pissed at the moment about the fact that I can't go home for a while, that I just snapped at the first person that wanted to be nice to me. I should really apoligize. But ofcourse...I won't.
I could still feel his presence behind me, so I turned around again.
"What do you want?" I snapped at him.
He looked at me for a few moments and finally answered.
"To know how you got here?"
"And why would you want to know that and why should I even tell you?"
"I-I." He stuttered. I raised one eyebrow at him and sighed. I stood up and glared at him.
"I don't know you, and I don't want to know you." I hissed. "If you ever try to put your nose where it doesn't belong, I'll make sure you'll regret it. Now if you would excuse me."
I brushed past this Potter guy and walked to the teachers table. The hall was completely silent and I could feel everyone staring at me again. I didn't care, I was too upset to care. I needed to get away here and didn't feel like talking to anyone. Finally I stood in front of Dumbledore. I looked at him.
"It seems I'm stuck here. If you could be so kind to show me where I could sleep, I would be very grateful."
He nodded at motioned someone to come to him. When I looked next to me I could see Ginny standing next to me.
"Show Miss Manson the painting with the Golden Twins on the Second floor. The password is Golden Candles." He wispered the last part in Ginny's ear. Loud enough for me to hear, but not for the rest of the hall.
I nodded politely to the teachers and stalked out of the hall, still pissed.