Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns everything you recognise from HP books.
First thing she heard after awakening was a deep silence, here and there fractured by clatter, as when cutlery hits the plate. First thing she realised was that she fainted. Only she "fainted" when writing a letter in her flat, where she was alone. There was nothing to clatter there.
She wiggled a bit and groaned. Her body ached as if someone's beaten her. The hard wooden floor she was laying on wasn't helping. That was another thing to ponder—she had carpet everywhere. There was no wooden floor in her flat.
She sighed and opened her eyes. One look was enough for her to realise that she wasn't in her flat anymore. The room she was in was much bigger than that small cosy thing of hers and there was wooden floor everywhere.
Wincing in pain, she slowly got up and looked to her left side. There was a long wooden table, turned so that people sitting at it were facing her and the rest of the room. Those people didn't attract her attention, though it was doubtless they were staring at her in shock. A huge poster, or rather some kind of cloth drapery was hanging on a wall behind their backs. It was a picture on it that caught her attention. It was a big, capital letter H, around which a snake, lion, eagle and a badger were twisting. Carmina had read all books about Harry Potter multiple times not to know what she was looking at. Was someone pretending that they're in that world? That was ridiculous! Why, people at the table were adults and not young ones at that!
Carmina turned and looked further into the room. For a moment she left like fainting again. Four long wooden tables full of meal stood before her, with young people sitting at them. They were teenagers from about eleven to seventeen years old. Carmina shook her head. It was strange; the movies were out for a long time already. Who would play like that? She looked upward, to the source of flickering light the hall was bathed in. Her eyes widened. Light was coming from lighted candles that were floating in the air above the tables. They weren't hanging on strands or anything. Candles were slowly flying around the hall on their own accord, stopping here and there for a bit. No strands could achieve that effect. In the next second her eyes focused on the ceiling and Carmina almost gasped. Either there was no ceiling at all or the night sky was painted on it.
She shook her head and looked at people. Those candles shocked her so much with their unreality that she couldn't wave things around her away like an illusion.
At the table furthest on the left she recognised no one, except maybe a little group at the end of the table—four boys and one girl. The girl was a redhead sitting side by side with a boy of short messy black hair and glasses and another one, who sported sandy-blond hair. Across from them was a tiny guy with big front teeth and a tall, relatively handsome boy. Everyone at that table stared at her in various levels of surprise and shock, some of them open-mouthed. It was the same at the table next to them and the table furthest to the right side. Only the table second from the right contained people that looked mildly surprised or absolutely disinterested. It was this table that persuaded her, that they weren't pretending anything. She couldn't imagine how they would choose these kinds of people, who all without exception controlled themselves completely. Only the youngest had their masks a bit loose, they looked the most surprised in this lot.
She recognised nobody from these people, but at the sight of one boy she winced almost perceptibly. He had long black hair, hanging down to his shoulders, an expressive nose and very dark eyes. If she were to admit she was in the world of Harry Potter, then this guy had to be either Severus Snape or his relative. If it was him then she had to be somewhere around the year 1976 because he looked like a sixteen or seventeen year-old.
Hesitantly she turned back to the Head Table. An old man sat in the middle. He had grey hair, reaching down to his shoulder blades and a grey beard that reached a few centimetres above his waist. He had twinkling blue eyes and half-circle glasses sitting on his nose.
"What is your name?" asked Carmina almost inaudibly. He was looking at her in the same surprised manner like all others, but overall looked like he was enjoying himself.
"Albus Dumbledore. I am the Headmaster here," he smiled. Carmina stiffened.
"And…what year is it?" she peeped. If he says what she thinks she will probably have a heart-attack. How could it be possible? Magic doesn't exist!
"1977, Miss."
"Wonderful," mumbled Carmina in shock. Here you go. If it was true, she wound up in Hogwarts, when her favourite character was in his seventh year and it will take twenty years until he dies.
Dies.
Carmina's breath hitched.
"I—that black-haired boy at the second-from-right table, he's sitting closer to us as fourteenth, who is it?" she closed her eyes, unsure if she wanted to hear it or not.
"Well, that would be Mr Snape. Severus Snape, seventh-year Slytherin," said Dumbledore. Carmina shook her head slightly.
"I have to speak to you. Right now and privately."
"Yes, I think so, too. We're going to my office. May I know your name, Miss?" Headmaster rose from the table and walked around to get to her.
"Stetson. Carmina."
"Excellent, Miss Stetson. Please, follow me."
Dumbledore lead her up the aisle between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables, to the big two-winged door at the end of the hall. Carmina hurriedly walked behind him, full of doubt. She stared at the ground, refusing to look up at anybody. However, when reaching the tenth student on her right side she couldn't resist and looked up at the guy sitting four seats further. Same as everyone else, he was looking at her. Carmina couldn't help it; she didn't turn away even when she was level with him. Only after she walked past she turned her gaze downwards and fastened her step. She will have to get away from there as fast as she could. Otherwise she will either collapse, or tell him not to go to the Shrieking Shack in twenty–years time. Perhaps it would be better to do the first thing, even if it didn't please her. It was written in that book that he'll die. Thank you, Mrs Rowling, now she couldn't tell him anything or everything would change. Carmina sighed. She was in a jam.
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Dumbledore lead her to the statue made of stone and upstairs into his office. When they seated themselves, he watched her for a while. Then he quietly stated: "You don't know of magic, do you?"
Carmina turned her eyes from the red-gold bird of a size of swan and shook her head.
"No, I know of it. Enough. Only—until now I thought it exists only in seven books I've read at home, not really. I…" she shook her head again. "I thought magic wasn't real. That it was a nice story. I live in the year 2007. I studied law. Magic was only an excellent topic for literature. And now… I found myself thirteen years prior to beginning of the main line of those books, right in that world! Get me out of here, Albus Dumbledore. Please, I can't stay here. I know what happens, get me out."
"I'm afraid," Dumbledore slowly began after a short while, "that it will not be possible. You weren't hit by a curse nor did you use a magical device. You were transported here from an entirely different universe if there really was a book about us. While I cannot explain what happened, I am sure it was irreversible."
"So, fix for me a place in the Muggle world or something so I am away! There will be people dying who I don't want to die, I can't—I cannot stay here. After all, I am non—I mean Muggle."
"That will be another problem. You are a witch."
Carmina stiffened and stared at him in complete shock.
"EXCUSE ME?" she shrieked out. Fawkes the Phoenix screeched, too, only in his case it was out of shock. "Have you gone insane?! I'm studying law! Are you telling me that I sacrificed years of stress and study to have to stay here eventually? And watch what awful victims this war will bring?"
Dumbledore sympathetically conjured a glass of water and pushed it to her. Carmina threw it down her throat in one swig and breathed a deep breath.
"Unfortunately, it is true. The device behind your back starts spinning only if there is a magical being in its close proximity. It is only you this moment. You will have to stay here. Hogwarts is the safest place of the entire magical world, including America and Europe. Because of your fast arrival Voldemort could become interested and he can't find out anything about the future. Even if it was in his behalf."
Dumbledore paused to look at her. "You may not know, but…"
"I know everything necessary about Voldemort," Carmina interrupted him. "You-Know-Who, Tom Riddle or however you want really can't get his hands onto me. It could bring a catastrophe."
"Ooh, so we'll win?" Dumbledore half-smiled.
"Like you didn't know it before," she frowned. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "What going to happen to me? I cannot be here. Not even to study, I am twenty!"
"Well, you will be sorted into your house tomorrow. You indeed won't be studying with our students. I and two other trustworthy members of the staff will take care of it instead. They are my good friends and excellent witch and wizard. Speaking of your presence here, in which far-off country have you been that you know well?"
"I… I've some relatives in small middle-European country, I've lived there for five years when I was smaller. Slovakia."
"So, you are my good friend's granddaughter, who believed a change of surroundings and challenge like Hogwarts would do you good after the death of your parents. You are a guest here, allowed to move about freely. You will have rooms assigned to live in and will be concerned only about meal-times and meeting with me, Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall. Make up the rest about your family and so on. You are half-blood, that is more-or-less safe. Your father was my friend's son, he married an intelligent and pretty Muggle. From there it is up to you. And speaking of those books, I can place a spell on you that will stop you from saying or doing anything that would interfere with the future. If you wanted to say something, your voice would fail. If you wanted to do something, you wouldn't be able to move. Will it be alright?"
Carmina was quiet for a while, repeating it all in her mind. "I—cannot change anything? No one's death? Nothing?" she asked carefully.
"No, you will not be able. It is for good, Miss Stetson."
Carmina sighed and closed her eyes in pain.
"I—know it is necessary. OK," she finally agreed, amazed her voice didn't break. In her heart she pleaded one black-haired boy for forgiveness.
Headmaster waved his wand in concentration and Carmina felt as if something was tied inside of her. She gave a small nod.
"Miss Stetson, I realise you probably became fond of some characters in those books. I understand. But try not to fight it, please."
Carmina shook her head. "No, I won't. I understand. Even—even when it hurts. My parents died only about month ago, all right? You may tell them some general view of this. I may have a need for alibi in case I am seen unhappy or in tears."
"Fine, Miss Stetson. I will fix for you a trip to the Diagon Alley tomorrow afternoon with Professor Flitwick to buy some things. Oh, no, money is not a concern, that's no problem. You officially are an orphan, right? I will walk you to your room now if I may. And before we go…" Dumbledore rose from the Headmaster armchair and gave her a serious, regretful look. "I am sorry, Miss Stetson."
Carmina feebly smiled.
A/N Well, here you go. Surprisingly this one wasn't so hard to translate. Maybe I'm getting better at it? But again, it took quite a bit of today…oh well, enjoy.