Chapter 2 I'M A WHAT?
Trust me when I say, it is a long, long walk to the castle. When we finally got there I realised just how big this place was! Take what you think is huge and multiply it by... a lot. That's how huge this castle is!
"If this is a school, Professor, then where are all of the kids?" I asked pointedly.
"Well, school hasn't started this year. The students will arrive in two weeks." He replied as the main doors to the school opened. My eyes grew to the size of tennis balls. The walls were covered in paintings and they moved like they were alive.
Dumbledore started walking towards one of the multiple hallways. I, on the other hand walked up to a painting of a fat man wearing long, baggy purple robes and a funny hat. When I got close I waved my hand in front of his face, and his head followed it.
"Excuse me miss." Said the man in the painting. I jumped a foot in the air, gob smacked. "You have no idea how annoying that is." He continued with a posh, British accent.
I pressed my face up against the wall and looked for wires of any kind. Nothing...
"Max? What are you doing?" Asked Dumbledore who was standing next to me with a small grin on his face.
"looking for wires." I replied shortly.
"Max, I can assure you that there are no wires." He said with a chuckle. "Now, come to my office for a chat." I simply nodded because I was completely speechless.
We walked for a long time, I was constantly looking at the paintings on the walls. They were all whispering and pointing at me. I only heard a few snippets of conversations that are going on between the people in the paintings. "New students early." Said one lady.
In this massive place Dumbledore called the Grand Staircase the stairs actually move. I found this out when I was staring at a particularly odd painting and nearly fell off the end. It was halfway through moving to another door.
We walked through multiple halls and passageways and now we're walking down another corridor. On the left is an ugly looking gargoyle. All of a sudden Dumbledore stopped and looked at it.
"Pineapple lumps." He said. I love those things, but they taste nothing like pineapple...
Then the gargoyle moved to the side and we stepped into a cavity in the wall. I was expecting an elevator, but all of a sudden we started spinning and going up. It's like a spiral stair case unscrewing itself from the ground.
When it stopped, there was a large wooden door in front of us. Dumbledore stepped through and I followed cautiously.
His office is a circular room, the walls are were covered in old looking books. In the centre of the room there is a large wooded desk with all sorts of odd looking contraptions on it. Behind the desk is an archway which leads to a big window. All of a sudden I felt that I needed to jump out and fly away.
"This is Fawks." Dumbledore said indicating to a huge fiery red bird. "He's a phoenix." He's also beautiful. He is stared at me with his intelligent eyes. Dumbledore sat down behind his desk.
"Have a seat Max there is a lot we need to talk about." He told me all about the wizarding world and a kid named Harry Potter. (A/N I can't be bothered explaining all this. If you have read the books he just loosely explained the first three) It turns out Voldemort, the mass murderer and his bunch of Death eaters, were responsible for the flocks death. The only reason I wasn't crying was because I was still taking all of this fabulous information in. Give me a few hours and I'll be crying like a baby after I stole its candy.
Then he dropped the bomb shell. "Max, you're a witch." I just stared at him. "Your mother is a witch too." Hmm... so that's how mum's chocolate chip cookies are so good...
"Uhhh..."
"I would like you to attend my school. You would need lots of catch up lessons to get to the same skill level as your peers. If you decide to attend we can travel into Diagon Alley tomorrow and purchase all your school supplies."
"And what if I decide not to attend?" I asked.
"We will wipe your memory and dump you back in that forest. You will have no idea why the flock is dead." He answered. "If you choose to stay, the spells we have set up around the school will prevent anyone from finding you."
This could be a new start for me, no more hiding, no more running. If I get my memory wiped then I will never know about any of this, and I won't get an opportunity to cause Voldemort some harm. And by the sounds of it, I can probably team up with this Harry kid and kill Voldemort.
"Well... Magic school it is..." Maybe I can live a slightly normal life here.
"Good, now about your wings. You can show people here, you are safe. You can fly whenever you want. Are you okay with that?"
"Let me get back to you on that one." I need to think long and hard about this.
Even at a magic school filled with witches and wizards, I don't think they will except me for who- what I am. No matter where I go, I will always be an outsider.
"Okay then. You will be sorted with the first years when the rest of the school arrives. Until then you can stay in the room of requirement on the seventh floor."
"Okay... When is dinner?" What? I had to ask, I'm a growing bird girl...
"All the staff are already in the dining hall," He said as he stood up. "We must introduce our new student, and weather you like it or not they must know about the wings." I sighed loudly at the thought of showing them my wings, I guess I'll never get used to the idea of revealing my secret.
We walked to the dining hall, down the Grand Staircase and to the large doors of the Great Hall.
"Here we are!" Dumbledore said happily as the doors opened to reveal a MASSIVE room with a small round table in the middle. I'm guessing when there are students there are a lot more...
We quickly walked over and Dumbledore took a seat at one of the remaining chairs. I sat in the other, next to a hairy giant and a very little man.
"Everyone, This is Max. Max this is everyone!" Said Dumbledore excitedly. "Let the feast begin!"
As if by command the table was suddenly filled with bowls of all the food you could dream of. I got lots of funny looks from some of the teachers after I piled my dinner plate high with food, then I want back for seconds... and thirds. They were probably surprised by how much food I was eating. Well they ain't seen nothing yet! I haven't had a good meal in ages.
"Okay everyone state your name and the classes you teach please." Said Dumbledore after everyone had finished eating. Great a 'get to know you game.'
"Ello, I'm Hagrid., The grounds keeper" Said the giant to my right.
"Professor Flitwick, charms." The little man to my left.
I was soon acquainted with everyone at the table. Then it was my turn. "Uhh, Hey, I'm Max. New kid."
"There is something you should all know about Max." Stated Professor Dumbledore.
I rolled my eyes and slowly stood up. I removed my jumper and extend my beautiful tan brown wings. There are gasps, ohhhhhhhhs and ahhhhhhhhs. I put on my jumper hiding my extra limbs and sat back down.
"That's bloody amazing!" Said Hagrid breaking the awkward silence.
"Max needs catch up lessons that's why she's here early." Explained Dumbledore. "She only found out about being a witch today. I think she's taking it pretty well!"
There was a chorus of okay and sure.
I must admit, I kinda like this place a little bit already...