Chapter Three: Back to the Past
Albus Dumbledore looked at me over his long fingers. It felt like I was being x-rayed. His eyes were like a sky blue, kind of, and his beard really was pure silver. He wore midnight blue robes.
"Uh, hi," I said nervously.
"Could you tell me who you are?" Dumbledore asked.
"Lu- I mean Danielle Potter. I'm supposed to give you this letter." I handed the thick parchment over to him. "Could you tell me the date, please?"
"It is three o'clock in the afternoon on the 19 of July in 1991. Please, sit down, Danielle."
I sat down in the chair I had occupied 18 years in the future. Whoa! That sure was a brain twister. I waited patiently while he read the letter. Finally, Dumbledore spoke. "Danielle, you will stay here for the rest of the summer. Hagrid will take you to Diagon Alley the 31st of July. It's your birthday, isn't it?"
I had to think about it for a second before responding. "Yes sir."
"You will stay in Minerva McGonagall's living quarters until the first of September. You should ride the Hogwarts Express so as not to arouse suspicion. I shall take you to Minerva's living quarters now."
Dumbledore got up and walked towards the door, and I followed, levitating my stuff behind us. We walked through the cobblestone of the Entrance Courtyard and walked through the doors to the Entrance Hall, then to the marble Grand Staircase. He led me to the First Floor, and we stopped at a red and gold tapestry (yes, I say tapestry. That's what happens when one reads too many British books). Dumbledore said, "House Unity," and the tapestry rolled up, revealing a door.
Inside, everything looked old fashioned. Quite a few things in here were red and gold: the carpets, the walls, and several pieces of furniture. There was a cluttered desk that had a few new candles, a huge amount of rolls of parchment, and several quills. The chair behind it looked like a comfortable, scarlet, chair, like the one in Dumbledore's office. On the other side of the room were a medium sized red couch where three adults could easily sit, an empty fireplace, and an enormous bookshelf with hundreds upon hundreds of books.
There were three doors on the wall facing us. I walked in the middle door and met a gigantic bathroom. The walls were a soft red with a gold tiled floor. A large bathtub the size of a kiddy-pool sat against one wall and two sinks with a huge soft brown counter. Against the last wall was a shower that reminded me a bit of waterfalls that I saw in pictures and another door. I guessed where that went.
We walked out of the bathroom and to the door on the far left. Inside were about a hundred windows and a canopy king-sized bed. The comforter was scarlet with a gold lion on it. The curtains were deep red with little yellow lions. A fireplace was on the other side with more bookshelves, but not as many books. There was a mahogany bedside table and a huge mahogany wardrobe. Did I mention, that just about everything was scarlet and gold?
We walked out of that room and into the room on the far right. Inside was another bedroom, this time with a queen-sized bed. The curtains and comforter were the same. There was another mahogany bedside table and wardrobe. There was another fireplace, this time with a comfortable looking scarlet chair in front of it. There was a bookshelf with quite a few books on it, but it still had a lot of room.
"This will be your room, Danielle," Dumbledore said. I looked up at him, my eyes wide. "What colors do you want it?"
"Um, well," I was still stunned that I got to have this humungous room. "I… Well, my favorite color is blue, but I also like purple and a bit of green. I'd also like my comforter purple with sky blue stars." Dumbledore waved his wand, and everything turned out how I wanted it to. The scarlet turned to blue, the gold turned to purple, and I saw a few green flecks every now and then. I looked up at Dumbledore again with happy tears in my eyes. "Thank you," was all I could say.
AN. This is really more of a descriptive chapter than anything else. For those of you who are asking, "Why is Danielle telekinetic?" you'll find out in year 2!