Chapter 2

"No way! It can't be!" Claudia stared open-mouthed ahead of her. Shaking her head a few times to try and make sense of the situation, panic began to set in. How did she get here? What was she going to do? Would she ever get home? And then it really hit her. She was at Hogwarts! And just as the thought sunk in, she started laughing. Hysterically. The whole thing is completely ridiculous! And as her laughter started to die down, she could only think of one thing; "I wish Wesa was here" she sighed under her breath. 'Right, first things first' she thought, 'I can't stand out here all night. I'll go look for Hagrid.' And she started off in the direction of the smoke, praying that she had at least come here in a year when Hagrid was still gamekeeper.

As she reached the front door of the hut, she nervously lifted her fist and gave three short, sharp raps before she could change her mind. Instantly barking could be heard from inside the hut, and a voice could be heard, "Al' right Fang, move, I'm comin'" Claudia breathed a sigh of relief, at least Hagrid was here. The door was thrown open, and streams of light peered around the enormous man that stood in the doorway. He had a look of confusion on his face. "Oh! Who're you?" He asked in a gruff voice.

"Er... Hi! Um..."

"You're not lost, are you?" he prodded

"Well... sort of." She was stuttering over her words, unsure how to explain the situation to him. She knew Hagrid was big, had expected it, but she could never have prepared herself for the sight of the Half-Giant before her. "My name is Claudia Winters. Could you please tell me what day it is?" it was asked as calmly as she could manage. 'Well done Claudia' she scolded herself, 'that didn't sound weird at all'.

"Er..." said Hagrid, "It's Tuesday" He looked at her a bit uncertainly.

"Oh no, sorry, I mean the date." Claudia was feeling more and more stupid with every word.

"Um... June, the 18th" as she still just looked at him he added "1991" Relief once again filled her. This was better than she could have hoped! Harry Potter would be starting Hogwarts in just a few short months, which meant that she at least knew what was going to be happening at the castle, and who would be there.

"Could you please take me to see Professor Dumbledore?" She asked with as much confidence she could muster. Hagrid was still looking at her, puzzled, but he nodded his head and signalled her to wait there a moment. Dumbledore, she thought, would be her best option. He would know what to do. She just needed to make him believe her. And it was this that she kept telling herself as Hagrid came out and she followed him up towards the castle.

It was a longer walk than she had expected, and as they came closer to the castle, her confidence started to waver. Hagrid kept shooting glances at her over his shoulder, but never said anything else to her. Claudia was glad he kept silent, because she honestly had no idea what she would say to him if he started asking questions. 'Hi, I'm from another world, know all about you and can tell your future' even in her head it sounded ridiculous.

She took a deep breath as they reached to front doors, and then took her first steps into Hogwarts castle. And it was beautiful. All her fear and worries went out of her mind as she looked around the magnificent entrance hall. Nothing she had watched or read could have ever compared to the sights all around her. Hagrid had stopped and looked round when he noticed she had stopped following him. He gave a small smile at the awed look on her face and cleared his throat to get her attention. Claudia looked embarrassed and jogged a little to catch up, and Hagrid just smiled kindly at her.

Claudia had lost count of the number of stairs they had climbed. The castle really did seem never-ending. Finally they stopped going up, and started moving along corridors instead. At one point Hagrid looked over his shoulder and told her "Third Floor we're on now." And still they kept walking.

Finally they came to a long corridor with a familiar stone gargoyle at the end of it. Claudia could hardly suppress a grin as excitement started to kick in. She was about to meet Albus Dumbledore! "Liquorice Wand" Hagrid told the gargoyle, which immediately sprang to life and jumped aside to reveal the moving staircase Claudia had read about. They both made their way up the stairs, and when Hagrid lifted a massive hand to knock on the door, Claudia was feeling nervous again. She was just trying to pull herself together again when a soft voice called out "Enter". Hagrid offered her a reassuring smile again as he pushed the door open and lead her into the circular office.

There he sat, with his emerald green robes, pointed hat and silver bears, eyes glittering behind his half moon glasses; he looked exactly as any Muggle would imagine a wizard to look. Claudia couldn't help a small smile as she saw him; he was exactly how she always imagined he would look. Not quite either of the actors who had played him, but he was closer to the first than the second. She was brought back to the situation at hand when Hagrid started talking "I dunno who she is Professor, but she asked to see you, an' she asked what the date was, too."

"Thank you Hagrid, and if you don't mind, I would like to talk to our mystery guest alone now." Said Dumbledore.

"O' course, Professor" and with a smile and a last curious glance at Claudia, Hagrid left the room. Claudia feel a lot more exposed now that she didn't have the huge man to hide behind. She glanced nervously over at Dumbledore, who just smiled and gestured to the chair across from him. As she sat down she couldn't help but think of all the people who had sat in this chair, or the people who hadn't sat in the chair yet. Voldemort himself had sat here for his job interview. Harry Potter would spent many lessons with Dumbledore sitting here.

"Er... I don't really know how to explain this." Claudia started nervously.

"Why don't you start with your name." He said with a kind smile.

"Ok. Well, my name is Claudia Winters. I'm 17 years old. And I come from a different world"

Dumbledore looked taken aback. " I think you better tell me the whole story."