Chapter Two: Stranger than Granger

Esmeralda woke to the sound of a soft breathing in her ear. She sat up straight, mildly shocked at the pain that was searing her spine, and turned to look at whatever had interrupted her rest. It was a house-elf. A very, very ugly house-elf at that, Esmeralda thought. She had seen several since coming to Hogwarts, but not one like this

"Miss Longbottom, Miss!" The house-elf breathed, its voice unusually high-pitched. It wore a hideous shirt in shades of puke green and had a knitted hat the color of spoiled milk.

"Who are you?" Ezzy asked, barely able to form the words.

"Miss Longbottom! Miss Longbottom! I'm Tipsy! Mr. Topsy Tipsy the Hogwarts House-Elf! I bring you a message from Lord Dobby sir!"

"Lord Dobby? I've read that somewhere…" Ezzy muttered to no one in particular.

"Why of course you have, Miss Longbottom, Miss! Lord Dobby leads SPEW, Miss Longbottom. SPEW is famous now, Miss!"

"All right, what's the message—how do you know my name?"

Tipsy's eyes opened wider than Esmeralda would have thought possible. "Bad Tipsy, bad, bad Tipsy!" He muttered, shaking a finger in his own face. "I cannot say exactly how, Miss Longbottom! But the Liberation Fronts have their eye on you, Miss Longbottom, Miss! That's how they know your name!"

"Will you please stop saying, "Miss Longbottom" every sentence." Ezzy turned slightly, ignoring the pain, and observed her surroundings. She was in the hospital wing, by the looks of it. She glanced out the window: the moon was already full. She'd been lying there for almost a week.

"Of course, Miss!"

Ezzy examined her arms. What had happened to her? Her arms were covered with scars and bruises. She'd gotten this from just a tumble off a broom? Wasn't magic supposed to be able to cure such injuries? Her mind worked it over, and she glanced about the room again.

"Tipsy…" she said cautiously. "Why aren't I at Hogwarts?"

"Whatever would make you think that, Miss?"

Ezzy let her eyes bore into his. "This is the Hogwarts hospital ward, but I'm not at Hogwarts. This is an illusion, of sorts."

"Miss, whatever would make you think that?"

"If I was at Hogwarts, I wouldn't be able to hear the sound of people Apparating outside the window."

Tipsy slapped himself on his forehead. "Stupid, stupid Tipsy!" He mumbled. "You're stranger than Ms. Granger, Miss Longbottom," he added more clearly, though Ezzy preferred his muttering, "Stranger than Ms. Granger indeed. Clever, clever…"

Tipsy snapped his fingers and was gone.