Note: Please know that I am aware Dumbledore was book-canon transfiguration professor. In film he was DaDA and honestly I like that classroom layout better :~) -E
"Professor Dumbledore," Juniper let out in a hushed tone, staring wide eyed at the man in front of her. The man paused again, watching Juni carefully.
"Who are you?" He questioned carefully, watching her before something shining on the floor caught his eye. He stared at the time-turner for a moment before his eyes flicked back to Juni, a new questioning in them. "Who are you?" he asked again.
"I-"
"When are you from?" he asked, eyes not leaving her face. Juni hesitated, glancing around the room quickly. If this was actually Professor Dumbledore, that would mean that she went back much farther than she meant to. Years further - decades, even. This man in front of her couldn't be any more than 40-50 years old, yet the Dumbledore that she had known before he died… He easily could've passed for 200. She felt a tingling sensation in her fingers as her stomach clenched. She felt as though she was going to be sick.
"What year is this?" Her voice came out quieter than she meant it to, almost mouse-like.
"1944," Dumbledore answered her, noting her avoidance of his questions.
"Oh god," she exclaimed before she could stop herself. The color drained from Juni's face as the feeling in her stomach only got worse. 1944? How had she possibly gone back nearly 60 years? She felt something coming up from her throat and a new panic came over her. Spinning around to face away from Dumbledore, she promptly emptied the contents of her stomach, coughing several times afterwards. Stumbling backwards away from the now-soiled desk, she spun around again in an attempt to not back straight into her old headmaster, hands over her mouth.
"I- I'm so sorry," she nearly gasped out between rapid breaths. "I didn't mean-" Dumbledore quickly drew out his wand. Waving it towards her, he brought a chair up behind her.
"Please, sit," he insisted, helping her into the chair. His fingers found their way to his robe pocket, pulling out a handkerchief and handing it to her. "It's no trouble, really." His voice was calm and soothing, and if she didn't know better, she would've said he had cast a calming spell over her. Maybe he did. With another flourish of his wand, the sick on the desk behind her disappeared and another chair moved so he could sit across from her. Cleaning her mouth off with the handkerchief, she sat staring at her knees as the handkerchief seemed to immediately clean itself. Her fingers played with the hem of the fabric as she sat, slowly getting her breathing back under control. Professor Dumbledore sat in silence, waiting for her patiently. After a few minutes, he cleared his throat softly.
"What year are you from?" Juniper hesitated again for a long moment before answering almost timidly.
"1998." Dumbledore froze before sitting back in his seat, watching her as though he were trying to see if she was telling the truth.
"I'm… I'm sorry?"
"1998," she repeated, a little louder than the first time. Exhaling loudly, Dumbledore ran a hand through his hair and looked away from her.
"You're sure?" He asked, though he figured what her answer would be.
"Yes." Dumbledore was silent for a long time, leaning forwards to rest his elbows on his knees and folding his hands together. He went between watching her and looking down at the time-turner and then her again.
"And you know who I am?" Juniper nodded quickly, not wanting to elaborate further. If she'd taken anything from her time learning about time-turners, it was that you can't tell anyone in the past what their future holds.
"How old are you?" Dumbledore asked quietly, the concern in his voice clear. Juni's fingers played with the fabric in them more as she looked up at him for a moment before looking back down to her hands.
"17, sir," she told him and he sighed again and closed his eyes, rubbing them with his thumb and forefinger.
"Okay," he replied simply. "You're 17 and now stuck 54 years in the past…Okay." Juni swallowed a lump slowly growing in her throat and looked up at him. Looking at her again, his eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Have time-turners somehow become more… Advanced in the future?" Juni shook her head. "This shouldn't even be possible… Unless someone hexed it." He moved to stand, looking at the time-turner but reconsidered, readjusting himself in his chair again. "Did you notice anything strange about it when using it? How many turns did you do exactly? Do you know?" He looked at her again.
"Um," Juni let her eyes drift to the time-turner still on the floor where she had flung it. "No, I… I don't think so… Um… I turned it 54?" Eyebrows furrowing slightly, she thought, nodding slowly to herself more than him. "54 times. And one quarter turn, sir." Dumbledore considered this for a few moments, calculating in his head what this should equate to.
"How far back were you attempting to go?"
"Four months, sir."
"Well that…'' Eyebrows furrowing more, he shook his head. "That should've been right. You're sure there was nothing-"
"Oh!" Perking up slightly, Juni felt her heart race beneath her chest. "Oh, there was a crack. In the glass. I saw it when I was turning it, sir." Dumbledore stiffened in his seat, sitting up straight. "And then when it was bringing me back, it… Burned me." Juni held out her fingers for him to see, small burns in the shape of a chain running across each of them. "I tried to yank it off of me, but it wouldn't budge." Dumbledore's expression was both sympathy and something Juni couldn't make out fully.
"Young lady, do you have any idea how reckless it was to continue to use a time turner that has a physical defect like that? Even if it wasn't hexed or cursed in some way, using a time turner with any sort of imperfection-"
"Well it- It's older, sir," she defended herself quickly. "I thought that maybe.. Maybe it just had a tiny crack from age…Sir." He considered her for a moment before letting out a soft chuckle.
"I suppose a lecture isn't exactly needed here, I feel as though you'll more than learn your lesson as we try to fix this."
"We?" Juni perked up, sitting straight up in her chair, gripping the handkerchief again tightly.
"Well," the twinkle in his eye that she had grown to know in his later years was back. "It wouldn't exactly be very responsible of me if a teenager from 60 years in the future popped into my classroom and I didn't help, would it?" Juni smiled shyly and looked back down at her hands.
"I suppose not, sir."
"Why were you attempting to travel four months in your past, if you don't mind me asking?" Juni stiffened immediately, her heart picking up its pace once more as she thought of what she had just left behind. They had all been counting on her, and what did she do? Somehow landed herself 54 years earlier than she meant to. Looking back at Dumbledore's expecting eyes, she swallowed hard.
"Mm-mm," she shook her head, pressing her lips together tightly.
"Understood," a small smile played at Dumbledore's lips as he watched her. "I can't go spoiling my future, can I?" Juni sucked in her bottom lip and bit down on it as she looked away quickly, shaking her head again. It technically wasn't his future at all. He died before it ever happened. "Well, we'll get you back to your time. Somehow we'll do it."
"If… If it's all the same, sir," Juniper began, taking her chance. "Could we somehow get me to the time that I was trying to get to?" Maybe there was a way that she could still do this: still complete what she had set out to do.
"Perhaps," he raised an eyebrow at her. "It may take quite a bit of time, I'm afraid, as time-turners aren't meant to take one forward… And it took you back far further than it should've ever been capable," he went on, bringing a hand to his beard, stroking it as he propped an ankle over his other knee. "You're 17? Perhaps it would be best to have you stay at the school. As a student, I mean."
"Aren't I supposed to be… Not talking to anyone?" Juni furrowed her brow, trying to recall everything she'd read about time-turners and everything Hermione had told her - which in itself was more than she could ever remember.
"You've already inadvertently broken that rule," he winked at her and she laughed softly.
"I suppose you're right," glancing around the room. "I guess I wasn't able to finish my 7th year… But-"
"You'll probably have to use a different name if you're a part of a pureblooded family," he interrupted, his brow furrowing again. "I apologize, I never actually learned your name."
"I'm Juni."
"Juni..?" He waited for her to continue.
"Juniper Nott, sir," licking her lips slightly to wet them, she glanced around.
"Nott?" Dumbledore took a few moments to think. "I don't believe we presently have a Nott at our school, but we have several families with close ties to them. Is Juniper a family name?"
"I think I'm the only one. As far as I can remember, anyway."
"Then it would likely be safe to use your first name. As for your surname, we should probably use something simple. Something that will let you by with little suspicion." Juni's mind immediately blanked from any and all possible names that she could use. "Perhaps simply… White?"
"Okay," she agreed too quickly, not caring what name was used.
"Excellent. I'll inform Headmaster Dippett of the situation and we'll handle any of the potential fallout." Juni held her breath as she considered what he was saying.
"O…Okay," she slowly sat back in her chair again. Juni felt her stomach clench again, not sure if this was the best way to do this. Shouldn't she be hiding? Avoiding contact with the past as much as possible? What could the ramifications of her even being here do?
…Or…
Or was this always meant to happen? What if she was always meant to go back in time too far? And that's how the events of the future - her time - were meant to unfold? Everything had gone wrong in her time because she hadn't gone back yet to fix everything?
"It's decided then," he put his feet on the ground and let his hands fall on his knees as he smiled at her, pulling her from her spiraling thoughts. "Lets get to the Headmaster's office and get you sorted."
"Oh, I…" Juni stopped, thinking about this for a moment. She had always been the family 'blacksheep,' being sorted into Hufflepuff previously. Her parents had always treated her as a disappointment afterwards, insisting that she should've been in Slytherin, as her family had been for generations. Maybe if she was sorted a second time, she could prove that she really did belong in Hufflepuff over Slytherin.
"But you've already been sorted, haven't you?" Dumbledore tried to finish her sentence for her but she quickly shook her head.
"I have, but I think I'd prefer to have a second go at it, sir. Just… Out of curiosity. If that's okay?"
"I often think we sort too soon," Dumbledore pondered, raising an eyebrow at her. Sitting forward slightly in his chair, he gestured towards the door. "Shall we?"
