Hello, again.
This chapter is a little longer than the last and we've started our journey. If you have enjoyed reading so far follow for updates. We post on Mondays!
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Disclaimer: This work is purely for fun and anything recognizable is more than likely not our work. If there are similarities, please take it as a compliment from us and give credit to those deserving.
CHAPTER SEVEN – The Authorities Have Arrived
"Fuck off!" Kate screamed as she thrashed at the unknown substance stabbing her. The rustling around her resembled snakes hissing violently as pain shot through her skin, infecting her very being. She couldn't see, couldn't breathe, stand, or reach her wand. She was helpless to the darkness consuming her from every….
"KATHERINE!" Cassie screamed, standing just feet away from her thrashing friend. Kate stilled, realizing her life was, in fact, not in danger. Cassie waited patiently, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently.
"Kate, you ok?" Kate slowly raised her head out of the large bush, glaring at Cassie.
"This…this is your fault." Kate glared, staying where she was and looking like a strange Human/Ficus hybrid. Cassie continued waiting for her to rise from the shrub, but it never came.
"You gonna come out?" Kate lowered her head, so her mouth and nose disappeared beneath the top of the bush.
"Na, you know? I think I like it here. It's warm with a good view, looks like a great place to settle down."
Cassie pulled her wand angrily. "Levicorpus!"
Kate disappeared down into the bush for a split second before being thrown into the air. She shot upwards to look as if she were hanging from a tree in a snare. She crossed her arms over her chest in shock. "Short fuse today I see…"
"I AM NOT HAVING ANY OF YOUR BULLSHIT TODAY!" Cassie threw her arms in the air, subsequently causing the spell to break. Kate hung in the air for a moment, just long enough to look at the ground, before dropping head first into the grass.
Cassie turned away, to compose herself before turning to, the now on the ground, Kate who sat rubbing her head, and began pacing. "Sorry, but we have no idea where we are. We don't even know if this is England! We have to find Ariana and your sass isn't helping."
"Cass, relax. We should be close and if not all we have to do is go shopping and then apparate there. We know it's the right year, so hold your horseys."
Cassie stopped her pacing and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Hold your horseys?"
Kate smiled innocently. "Ya."
Cassie raised her hand and rubbed at her eyes, groaning at the outdated and childish vernacular.
"I don't know what to do with you sometimes."
"You love me, cherish me, and never let me go." Kate smiled. "Now come on, I'm done with you wasting my time."
"I'M wasting YOUR time?!" Cassie's entire body swelled from her anger.
"Yep, now let's go!" Kate ran, jumped, and turned into her panther form. As her paws hit the ground, she shot forward dashing through the forest at top speed.
Cassie shook her head and opened her bag. Using her wand, she cast Accio for her broom and held the bag open away from her body. The broom burst forth from the bag and came to rest, after doing a loop-de-loop, just above the ground waiting for her.
Cassie mounted the broom, smiling as it rose to follow Kate.
"Here we go again."
LINE BREAK
Mould-on-the-Wold was a small, quiet town. It never did anything wrong and nothing interesting ever happened within the confines of the city's limits.
As such, the residents were unaware of the 90-pound cat barreling towards the outskirts of the area. Kate hurled herself forward, racing across the soft forest floor so fast she barely disturbed the leaves underfoot.
Cassie flew overhead, surveying the land and ensuring no muggles crossed their path.
As they neared the edge of the town, Kate could smell the fresh goodies from the bakeries opening for the morning. It wafted through the morning mist that was so thick it held its shape save for the tunnel Kate ran through.
Cassie, from her lofty perch, could see the dying lights of the awakening village. She quickly dropped her broom into the forest and flew up beside Kate without stopping.
"There's a town up ahead. We should stop and find out where we are."
Kate let out a burst of speed, jumping out of the fog layer. She pounced upon the trunk of a nearby tree and instantly pushed off it, doing a summersault in midair, returning to her human form and landing on the broom, sidesaddle, behind Cassie.
Cassie smiled, shaking her head "Show off"
Kate just smirked, knowing her friend was always impressed by her antics.
They flew the last few miles to the sleepy village. Now closer to midday, what little life could be seen in the town square was as alive as this corner of the world was bound to get.
Cassie landed her broom in an alley just off the square. She and Kate dismounted and waved their wands about the others person to make their robes appear.
Kate slid to the edge of the alley, leaning around the corner to ascertain the situation. Cassie, caring not for Kate's sneaky-sneaking, walked out of the alley and started towards the square.
Kate huffed, following the impetuous Horned Serpent, and looked around the square.
The small shops circled the main fountain. Bakeries, bookstores, a clothing store, and one cafe rounded the beautiful, if lonely, center of town.
Cassie surveyed the area, trying to get any bearings on where, or when they were. "I think we should…" she said, turning to Kate. If this were a cartoon, there would be a blinking, dotted outline where the brunette once stood.
Cassie looked towards the shops, noticing Kate looking in the windows of the clothing store. She strode over to her.
"What are you doing?"
"Cass," Kate said without looking away from the windows, "we are in the 1880s."
Cassie furrowed her eyebrows, confusion clear on her face.
Kate turned towards her with a Grinch-like grin.
"What?" Cassie asked.
Kate pointed to the fashioned dummies in the window. Cassie turned, now noticing the clothing for the first time.
Cassie's heart plummeted at the dresses on display in the shop. Tight fitting collars and long sleeves sent ice through her veins. Their long, ruffled trains concealing many uncomfortable layers beneath the MILES of fabric. The bones of the corset protruding from the tight waist making even Kate's ribs hurt.
Cassie's left eye twitched.
Kate held her breath, waiting to deliver the final blow.
"And one more thing…"
Cassie turned towards her friend, the last sliver of hope clear in her eyes.
"If it's the 1880's, there's no K-Pop"
Kate watched as Cassie's world shattered.
"KATE! WHY WOULD BRING THAT UP! You know that this trip was already going to be hard enough for me, considering my hardcore addiction to the internet and video games. Do you know how long it will be until the first video game is created? ONE HUNDRED, if weren't listening, ONE HUNDRED FUCKING YEARS! Can we please just do what we came here to do so that, we can go forward to a more suitable time period?" Cassie ended with a quivering voice and shaking shoulders.
Kate simply smiled as Cassie propelled a string of vulgar knives purposefully meant to maim the sly witch.
However, halfway through her spiel, Kate's attention was drawn to the scene that unfolded behind Cassie by the fountain.
A group of boys chased a young girl, about 5 or 6, and had her trapped against the side of the fountain. They yelled something to the fair-haired girl and she shook her head as tears fell from her eyes.
Kate didn't even realize she moved, walking around Cassie and heading towards the center of the square.
"Where are you going?" Cassie hollered.
Kate strode towards the boys with the confidence and air of an angry mother bear.
"Boys," she said softly, clenching her fist in restraint, "what are you doing?"
The boys turned, thinking they would see another child and instead they found 5"7' of pissed off (metaphorical) She-wolf.
The boys released the girl, who slid to the ground, and shakily answered, "Nothin' miss"
Kate smiled, showing her slightly sharpened teeth. "Then you had better run along then."
The boys, smart things that they were, took off down the street without turning back.
Kate knelt to the ground, offering a hand to the girl, smiling. "It's alright, I'm not gonna hurt you."
The girl cautiously took her hand, timidly trusting her savior. As her hand neared Kate's, sparks flew between them, causing a small flash and for the girl to snatch her hand back to her chest.
"It's alright," Kate said softly, "I'm like you, see?" Kate reached up into the fountain, cupping some water into her hand. She lowered it back to the girl, bringing her other hand to cover the water. Light shone from the gaps, as Kate's magic flared to life.
After a moment, she opened her hands to which a small ice swan sat on her palm.
The girl's eyes glowed, shining off the perfect angles of the figurine. Just as quickly as the magic appeared, the swan melted away into nothing.
"Wow!" the girl exclaimed, "That's real neat lady! I've never seen anyone do that before."
Kate, now sitting on the ground, smiled at the little one. "It's really not that hard, once you know how. I'm Kate, what's your name."
"Ariana,'' the girl said, standing to do a curtsy, "Ariana Dumbledore, pleased to meet you."
"Pleased to meet you too Ariana," Kate replied, smiling.
Cassie stood, in the middle of the street, in absolute shock at the events that had unfolded before her.
THAT ABSOLUTE LUCKY ASS BITCH!
However, keeping her composure, she said nothing and made no movement. She would surely explode if she did.
"Who's she?" Ariana asked, pointing to Cassie. Kate turned and, once realizing who she was pointing at, jumped up. She walked over, throwing her arm around Cassie.
"This is Cassie." Kate said, "She's my best friend." Cassie herself was internally screaming.
Ariana walked over, again curtsying. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Cassie."
Fuck that's adorable! Cassie thought.
Kate released Cassie's shoulders and bend down to Ariana's eye level with a serious look on her face. "Ariana, why were those boys picking on you?"
"They wanted to do the sparks, but they couldn't…." Kate's hand came to rest on the girl's head.
"It's ok," Kate said, "some people can't do magic on their own. We have to be careful who we show our magic to."
"Why?" the child asked.
"Because," Kate continued, "some people get mad, and when they get mad, they break things. We wouldn't want anything to get broken, would we?"
Ariana shook her head from side to side. Kate smiled kindly, saying, "That's right, now how about we take you home?"
Ariana smiled and began jumping up and down as Kate rose. "Yes indeed! You can show the pretty thing to my brother Aberforth! He loves pretty things."
Ariana took Kate by the hand and began leading her through the town telling her all about her brothers. How Albus was always in his books, which he would read to her and Aberforth, who always asked for the tale of Grumble the Grubby Goat, and Albus always wanting to read The Three Brothers instead.
Cassie followed behind the two in relative silence, cursing the lucky fucking star Kate was APPARENTLY born under.
Kate and Cassie followed the chattering girl until they came upon a rather nice house. A white half-solid fence stood around the three-story house. The garden around the outside showed the recently cut grass with bushes at the base of the home. A large willow tree hung at an interesting angle on the right side of the yard, its long, drooping branches hanging just off the ground. Their curtain concealing whatever may lie within its protection.
Ariana pushed open the gate, heading for the steps to the door. As she reached the top of the steps, she paused, turning to address her new friends. "You had better wait out here, I'll get mommy and daddy!"
With that, she spun around and disappeared inside the house.
Once the door was closed, Kate was suddenly assaulted with a swift blow to the back of the head.
"FUCK!" she exclaimed. She bent, holding her poor head.
"HOW!? HOW IN THE FUCK DID YOU KNOW!" Cassie shrieked, keeping her voice low as not the draw attention.
"I didn't know, I just saw she needed help." Kate said exasperatedly, "Good luck though, eh? So, can you glamor us?"
Cassie, rolling her eyes, pulled her wand and changed their robes slightly to appear as if they were from the Ministry of Magic.
As she was finishing, the door opened to reveal Percival and Kendra Dumbledore. They rushed toward the two girls, concern clear on their faces, with Ariana following and clinging to her father's leg.
"The Ministry?" Kendra said, "Did Ariana do something wrong?"
"No," Kate explained, "She was being picked on by some local boys. We interfered before it became anything more. No troubles, but she should be more careful with her magic."
"Her Magic? What's wrong with her magic?" Percival demanded.
"Oh!" Cassie continued, "Nothing, it's simply very strong. That's actually why we were sent here. The Ministry noticed an influx of magical energy in this little town and sent us, Aurors, to access the situation. We came upon your daughter by complete accident, but the level of magic she gives off is quite clear. As such, we may have a way to help with her budding abilities."
Kate reached into her robes to produce a silver chain, hanging from which was a beautiful pendant. At its center, a deep blue jewel lay secured by wires.
Kate knelt, saying, "Ariana, could you come here please?"
Ariana came around her parent's looking to her father. Percival nodded and led her forward. Kate lifted the necklace over her head, placing it gingerly around her neck.
The pendent sparked to life, glowing brightly. The crystal began turning from blue to red but dimmed and stopped halfway up the jewel.
"There we go. Now remember Ariana, you need to keep this on you at all times. Never take it off ok?" Kate said seriously.
Ariana nodded, holding the pendant in her hands like it was made of glass, and headed back into the house.
Kate rose, now addressing the Dumbledores.
"Now, because her magic is stronger than normal, you'll have to take extra precaution in her training."
Cassie pulled from her robes a pamphlet that read "Magic and your Child", which she definitely didn't just magic into existence, and handed it to the concerned parents.
"Everything should be in here." Cassie continued, "You need to be mindful of her magic and help her to cultivate it in a productive way. She should also expand her friendship skills. Now you can continue to do this here, but the odds of muggle intervention could have very negative consequences upon her young mind. We suggest you should move to…."
Cassie fumbled for a place, and Kate jumped in saying, "Godric's Hollow. It is a much closer-knit wizarding community where she can create relationships with fellow young wizards."
The Dumbledores nodded, listening while looking through the pamphlet. "Thank you so much for all of your help. We will be sure to follow your advice."
"Of Course," Cassie said, smiling, "And if you have any further issues or concerns please don't hesitate to ask the ministry for help."
With that, Percival and Kendra turned back and returned into the house, shutting the door behind them.
Kate and Cassie headed out the gate, walking down the street towards the edge of town as the light began to dim with the setting sun.
"Well," Kate said, "I think that went well. We should go by some of the shops before we leave for…"
Kate was abruptly stopped by Cassie's hand covering her mouth, anger seething from her.
"NO…." She hissed, "We are going to jump forward, AS PLANNED."
Kate threw up her hands in surrender, eyes glinting in the light.
"Now, have you given any thought how we are to be accepted to school? It's not like we can just show up." Cassie said, dropping her hand.
"Well, ya actually, I think we should go see the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Phineas Black."
Cassie's face lit up at the possibilities of what Kate was proposing, a chance to get one over on an esteemed Master AND get what they want. The Horned Serpent in her shivered in anticipation.
Cassie produced the Time Turner, setting it to the correct date.
As she and Kate placed their hands upon the device, the last thing Cassie thought was….
THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN!
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