Chapter 1

Sam and Dean stood shivering in the snow. Sam in pure shock, Dean utterly confused. The castle loomed in front of them, ancient and boding. The sun was descending behind the mountains in the distance, throwing the bastion into eerie shadow. Two massive doors with steps leading up to them stood before them flanked by two giant torches. The woods surrounding the area were already impossibly dark and unearthly sounds emanated from its depths. To their left, a extensive body of murky water sloshed along its banks.

"What the hell? Hogwarts?" Dean asked.

"Dude. . ." Sam replied. "Hogwarts."

Dean stared and beckoned him to finish his sentence.

"You know, from the Harry Potter books."

Dean glared. "Are you kidding me? This place actually exists?"

"No. . . I mean, it's not supposed to exist."

"You mean to tell me that Cass zapped us into a freaking young adult novel? I'm gonna kill that whacked out angel!"

"He said say it was like an epidemic." Sam said. "You know he isn't himself right now. He probably saw the same following in the Harry Potter books in those damn Supernatural books Chuck wrote. The fanaticism for these books is monumental! No wonder he got confused."

"Well his crazy train just derailed us in a whole heap of double bubble toil and trouble."

"This is bad, Dean. I . . . wait." Sam turned to his brother. "Did you just make a Shakespeare reference?"

"What? Surprised?" asked Dean, shrugging it off like it was nothing.

"Yeah, a little." he admitted. He shrugged and continued. "Well, we got to figure out how to get back. If this place is now real that means everything else in this world is too. That means we are in some serious danger."

"Well where do we start?" Dean asked.

"I have absolutely no –"

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

High above them in one of the many towers a pair of windows had been flung open. A woman with long frizzy hair and large round glasses which magnified her eyes leaned half of her body out into the cold, and her high, shrieking, panicked voice had pierced the night.

The words echoed off the frozen stone. Several of the windows along the castle wall were already lit within by flickering torches, but once the scream was heard numerous others lit up as well.

Several windows flung open and dozens of younger faces appeared in them, followed shortly by many older ones. Several gasps and pointing fingers ensued. Many of the older faces disappeared just as quickly as they appeared with a mixture of concern and disapproval on them.

"HEADMASTER! HEADMASTER!" the original voice continued to shriek out the window.

Suddenly, the two massive doors in front of them swung inward and half a dozen adults came rushing through them led by an elderly man with a long white beard, half moon spectacles, and flowing purple robes with markings on it. He, like the other robed figures behind him all held differently shaped sticks in the brother's direction except one man who held an evil looking cat.

There was a tall man in black robes who had black, stringy hair and he stared at the brothers most unapprovingly over his long, pointed nose. Next to him was a dumpy little witch with flyaway grey hair who wore a patched, frayed hat and shabby robe. She looked a bit dusty as if she had been working in a garden all day. There was another woman, tall, and rather severe-looking, with grey hair drawn back into a tight bun. She wore emerald green robes, a pointed hat, and a very prim expression. A tiny bespectacled man stood to her right; he had dark hair that parted in the middle and a mustache. He only stood knee-high to Sam but had a most serious look on his face that meant business. The man in the back of the group holding the cat was lanky and thin. Older in age, he was balding on top but had rather long graying hair past his shoulders, a mean case of 5 o'clock shadow, and a permanent scowl.

"What business do you have here?" bellowed the bearded man with the half moon spectacles, and the encroaching mob stopped in their tracks.

Before either one of them could speak, again came the shrieking voice from above.

"I SAW THEM HEADMASTER! I SAW THEM APPARATE ONTO THE GROUNDS!"

"Thank you, Sybill." He replied in kind. "I shall handle it from here."

He turned toward the castle and spoke in a voice loud enough to be heard by all, but it was surprisingly calm and balanced.

"Students, please return to your dormitories. Teachers, please make sure everyone is accounted for and return to your chambers."

Instantly all the gawkers disappeared inside and the windows were shut. The group in front of the brothers remained, and now their attention was solely focused on them.

The man with the pointed nose and long greasy black hair took a step forward and whispered into the bearded man's ear.

"I'm sure I don't need to remind you, Headmaster, that Apparating within Hogwarts grounds is impossible." he spoke in a slow and stressed drawl. "And I, for one, would like to know how they managed it."

"Yes of course, Severus."

Sam and Dean stood watching the events unfold in front of them. They stood in awkward stances somewhere between fight and flight, their faces still struck with awe.

"My name is Albus Dumbledore." said the bearded man in his strikingly calm demeanor. "I will ask you gentlemen once again. What business do you have here, and how is it that you managed to bypass not only our school defenses, but also the Dementors currently guarding the grounds?"

Neither one of them could find the words to speak. They both stood slacked-jawed, unable to form a coherent sentence. They stuttered. They held their breath. They blew it out. Nothing seemed to help. They looked at each other as if doing so they could mutually come up with a good enough story to tell, but nothing came out. So instead they stood there, still soaked to skin from the rain before with no answers.

The woman in the emerald green robes stepped forward. "Headmaster, if I may?" she offered.

"Yes, Minerva?" he looked at her with his intensely blue eyes.

"These two men are obviously in a state of shock. I don't believe they know how they got here either." she stated matter-of-factly.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. He looked at them, as if trying to figure them out. He then turned his attention to the snow on the ground. He looked at it with a curiosity and wonder which seemed to change his impression of the two strangers shivering in it. "It looks as though you may be correct. Perhaps Madame Pomfrey should take a look at them."

"Headmaster!" said the one called Severus. "It could be a ruse. I would be more than happy to provide some Veritaserum to extract the truth from them. The last thing we need is spies of You Know Who in the castle."

"Quite right, and perhaps in time, Severus." said Dumbledore, maintaining his calm tone. He stood and thought on it a moment, looking the brothers over as if sizing them up. "We shall see." he said. "In the meantime, bring them to the Hospital Wing -"

Severus opened his mouth to protest.

"Under supervision of course, Severus." Dumbledore said holding his hand up to still his objection. He then turned to the man with the cat. "Argus, if you would be so kind as to make sure the children are not wandering about?"

"My pleasure, Sir!" he said and smiled with his crooked teeth in an almost pleased manner. "Let's find them, my sweet." he said to the cat, and she leaped out of his arms and ran inside ahead of him kicking snow off of her paws as she went. He all but skipped back into the castle after her with his orders.

"I have a small matter I must see to, I will join you in the Hospital Wing shortly." said Dumbledore and he turned and hurried into the castle alone.

The brothers were suddenly surrounded by the group of teachers. Dean flinched away from Severus' reaching grasp for his arm, which made the Wizard raise his wand. Sam turned to him in a panic.

"Dean! Just go with it! Don't fight them!" Sam urged under his breath.

He gave Sam an intense look of displeasure and begrudgingly let himself be carted away.

They were led up the steps and through the massive castle doors. Once inside, the torchlight illuminated the great foyer. It was blissfully empty of young, prying eyes. Sam looked around, heart thumping in his chest. He couldn't tell if it was from fear or from the shear excitement of actually being inside of Hogwarts. As they moved toward the staircase he risked a glance behind them to see the House Point hourglasses that lined the front wall of the room. He saw them, two on each side of the doors. They towered above everyone; each filled with gems of the corresponding House colors.

Satisfied they truly existed he turned back to the front just in time to stumble on the first step. They were moved through the corridors under the intense scrutiny of not only their escorts but also the portraits on the walls. The men and women painted on the canvases moved, not only within their own frames, but also into eachother's. They exchanged information in hushed tones and quickly ran to the next frame to continue spreading the news of the intruders and their bizarre appearance on the grounds.

The group of them turned a corner and entered a room that was almost as tall as the tower itself. A Grand Staircase wrapped around the room, and hundreds and hundreds of pictures lined the walls; most of which could be seen still spreading the word like a climbing wildfire.

Dean looked up and took it all in. To his astonishment, the flights of stairs moved! He watched them shift between corridors on either side of the tower. It was at this moment he wish he had read the books, or at the very least paid attention when he watched the movies with Charlie. As they walked up the staircase, to his shock it began to move under his feet.

"Whoa!" Dean quietly muttered, surprised by the sudden movement. This caused Minerva to momentarily drop her hardened demeanor by letting the smallest smile creep across her lips. Sam saw this as they briefly made eye contact. Minerva cleared her throat and the smile left her face.

They climbed the steps up to the fourth floor where they disembarked. Yet another long hallway greeted them. Along the passage the group heard a maniacal laughter and a cold breeze rushed past them.

The brothers stopped dead in their tracks and looked around wildly for the source. The rest of the group paused with them. The laughter continued all around them and echoed down the corridor.

"What the hell is that, Sam?" Dean shouted.

"How should I know?" he answered.

"Keep walking." said Severus, eager to get the two nuisances to the Hospital Wing. "It is only Peeves."

"Peeves?" Dean asked.

"The resident Poltergeist." Severus pushed through his teeth in an obviously annoyed tone.

Peeves suddenly flew through the wall to their right and immediately took to flying around in loops above the group as they walked. The brothers ducked and dodged Peeves' plunges toward them. They both swatted at him as he passed but he would fly out of their reach only to turn and taunt them by blowing raspberries and making rude gestures.

"Peeves!" Minerva shouted sternly. "Now is hardly the appropriate time or place!"

"I'm just having a bit of funsies!" Peeves hooted.

"Later, Peeves." she maintained her strict tone. "Now be off before I must fetch the Bloody Baron!"

Peeves looked aghast. "Oh, my my my my my!" he feigned. "One mustn't have mad ghosties floating about! Especially with company! Tsk, tsk, tsk!" With a tremendous cackle he back flipped through the opposite wall and disappeared.

Dean and Sam exchanged looks and shrugged off the weird.

"Somebody want to explain what the hell that was all about?" Dean asked.

Severus turned on the spot grabbing Dean's collar and raised his wand once again just mere inches from the tip of Dean's nose.

"I hardly think you are in the position to ask the questions here." he said menacingly.

"Severus!" Minerva cried. "The Headmaster gave instructions to take them to the Hospital Wing and nothing more. We shall do as we are told." Her voice softened a bit. "Is that understood, Severus?"

The brooding wizard took his time answering. His dark, narrowed eyes fixed onto Dean's. Severus looked deep into them and Dean felt as if he was trying to stare directly into his soul and rip the answers out himself.

"Of course." he said after a heavy moment of silence, and he released his grip on Dean. "I have every confidence that Dumbledore will sort it all."

"Good!" she replied. "Then I trust we shall have no further delays in getting these boys to their destination."

Severus visibly choked back his words as he corrected his posture and straightened the front of his robes. "Indeed." he answered slowly and simply. With a touch of dramatic flair, his robes whooshed around him as he turned and sped walked ahead of the group.

When Severus was reasonably out of earshot Dean leaned over to Sam as they followed and whispered, "What crawled up his ass and died?"

"It's a long story." replied Sam.