Chapter 2
'Charing Cross?' she read off as she crossed it, thinking about finding somewhere to sit soon, as shed already been walking for 20 minutes. She started wandering down the street, only to stop shortly after looking at the signs of businesses. One in particular caught her eye, a rather ornate, black design, with a black cauldron hanging off it.
Taken aback, she could only scream, "Is that the Leaky Cauldron??"
Faybelle stood there in shock for a moment, convinced she must be hallucinating. 'There's no way.' She thought to herself, 'Its just a made up place, in a made up story. There's no way.'
Still, not convinced her mind wasn't playing tricks on her, she walked over to the door of the pub. Peering inside, she caught glimpses of people eating and drinking, talking and generally having a good time. It wasn't until she noticed a man walk towards a door in the back , that she decided she had to go inside.
Opening the door, she caught snippets of conversations and smelled a strange combination of foods. Glancing around quickly revealed the inside was exactly as she had imagined from the books, dark and slightly dingy, with tables and chairs randomly placed. a set of stairs made up on side of the pub, and she watched as a woman walked up them, disappearing into a hallway. On the other side, was a bar, and Faybelle tried to duck and hide behind a customer as she made eye contact with the bartender.
"Oi, little girl, what are you doing in here?" she heard him shout, and then footsteps that moved closer only stopping in front of her. "This isn't a place for nice little girls to be alone, where are your parents?"
She glanced up, momentarily starstruck. 'Might as well go along with everything until i can find out exactly whats happened to me, and how to get back home. Besides, its probably just a weird little club, who enjoys acting out the books' She decided. Certain that this man had to be 'Tom' or at least someone dressed up as him, she went with her gut and replied, "Im just passing through."
"Ah, yes. Of course." he sounded as if he had it all figured out, and waved at her to follow. So she did, weaving through groups of people, and avoiding getting some drink spilled on her, until they reached a back door. Tom glanced around as he waved her through, and then followed.
He pushed open another door, this one lead to an enclosed allyway, in the dim light she could see THE brick wall, and she watched as Tom took out his wand.
"Now, watch closely, youll need to remember this pattern" He spoke before he turned to the wall, and tapped his wand against it.
Faybelle gasped in amazement as she got to watch the bricks move by themselves, as if magic was actually real. She stepped forward as if pulled by magnets, eager to see what lay beyond.
Tom chuckled behind her, " Yes, Yes, everyones excited their first time. But ill warn you, it's different than the muggle world in more ways than the obvious." By the time she had registered what hed said and turned around, he was already back inside the pub, the door swinging closed behind him.
‘Well,' Faybelle thought, preparing herself for anything, 'No time like the present to figure things out.' As she stepped forward, she expected to feel the warmth of the sun, but glancing around, she realized the only light on the open street was coming from lanterns, and bleeding through shop windows. While she had expected the street to be crowded, it there were only a few people moving about, all dressed in similar Harry Potter inspired robes. Looking up, she saw it was suddenly night, stars shining against an almost black sky. It hit her then that this may not be all a charade, done by a group of Potterheads. In fact, she had no earthly idea what was happening still. Her breathing started to come quicker as the panic started to set in.
‘No idea where i am, no where to go, already night time, no money to rent a place, no adult to run to' she placed her hand on her chest to feel her heart beating hard against it and stumbled forward, walking past shops both closed and open. Suddenly, her feet flew out from underneath her, and she landed hard on the pavement,squinting her eyes shut in pain.
"Oh, dear, are you alright?" A woman's voice made her look back up. Slowly she moved her honey, brown eyes over the figure she'd apparently bumped into. White, sensible loafers were seen first, followed by a white robe with a chunk of red in the middle. The young womans hands were held out in front of her, reaching to help Faybelle up from the ground.
"I don't know what is going on." Faybelle answered truthfully. "One minute, I'm going to sleep in my bed in america, and the next I'm waking up on the ground on a random London street. Then pulled into a world I've only known to exist in books."
"An american? Well, er, perhaps I'm not the best person to handle your predicament." The woman signed," My name is Pomfry, Poppy Pomfry, whats yours?"
"Faybelle Bennett, and ill be honest Ma'am, i don't think any one can handle my predicament. "
"Well, Miss Bennett, perhaps Albus Dumbledore can. Now why don't we go and see." She held her arm out for Faybelle to grab onto and stopped, "You've never apparated before, have you? No matter, you'll feel nauseous, might get sick, but no worries. Im a mediwitch at hogwarts, ill fix you right up."
Apparating wasn't as much a piece of cake as it was eating a whole cake followed by several more, until ultimately, you popped like a balloon. Complete with a dizzy feeling, like you had been swirled around in the air. Once Poppy had let go of her, Faybelle immediately dropped, clutching her stomach, and had to stay there for a few minutes. Once the world stopped spinning and she felt better, she looked up to observe her surroundings. They had landed right outside an iron gate, complete with what looked to be gargoyles, a chain, and a brick wall on either side stretching further than Faybelle could see in the darkness.
"You alright now? Yes? Then we should go now, its not always safe outside the wards." Poppy turned and started walking at the gate, not slowing at the fact that it was closed, so Faybelle hurried to follow. The gate opened as if it sensed their approach and they entered. She felt what she assumed to be ‘wards’, a heavy weight, combined with tickling. Almost as if it was searching and unsure of what it found. Once inside the gate, she saw a fountain, lit up some by lanterns on the ground, and beyond that a large door.
Poppy held the door open for her and Faybelle entered a bright room. The walls were yellow and light from a few wall lanterns were bouncing off of the paint, making it appear brighter and momentarily blinding her. Poppy had no such problem, and as soon as she entered, she was off again, leading the way up a set of stairs to the left and through a set of double doors. Faybelle followed into what appeared to be a hallway, with vines crawling up the walls.
"So where does this lead?" She asked, tired of listening to silence, and their footsteps echo off the stone or tiled floor.
"It will eventually lead us to the headmasters office," Poppy answered sharply, "I hope he has some answers for you." At the end of the hall was a door, which opened up to a big landing and yet another set of stairs, which they followed up, with Faybelle wondering just how much walking this would involve. At the top of the stairs, Faybelle noticed an indoor fountain, carved with creatures she couldn't recognize fully in the dark. Poppy turned left upon reaching it and lead Faybelle up another set of stairs, pausing at a landing to allow her to catch her breath.
"You get used to all the walking and the stairs." Poppy turned, smiling at her while she grabbed her side, " And if you look over the rail, youll see one of my favorite parts of this wing, the dragon carving." Faybelle glanced where she pointed and saw smoke, coming from a dragon, sleeping, carved in stone. Then they set off again. By the time they reached the headmasters office, Faybelle was sweating profusely, and exhausted again. No amount of reading had prepared her for the massive amount of stairs, or walking, this castle actually involved. Poppy had left a few moments ago, promising to return with Dumbledore, and so Faybelle sat, in a room crowded with stacks of books and papers and feathers, she assumed these were quills, and shelves. In front of her, was a large desk covered with the same. A bird perch sat empty to her right and she was looking around the tops of the floor to vaulted ceiling bookcases, searching for the 'sorting hat', when the sound of heels on stone reached her again. Poppy had returned as promised, murmuring with an older man, wearing a lavender nightgown with gold tassels at the hems and a matching hat on his head.
" You certainly did the right thing, Poppy." He assured her guide, as he walked to sit behind the desk. " Let get as much information as we can from you, Miss Bennett, and hope i can find an answer." He pulled a pair of glasses out of a drawer and set the on his face, then looked up at Faybelle expectantly.
Faybelle explained the book series to the man and how she ended up in what seemed to be an entirely fictional universe, her mind spinning with theories about it all, yet all he gave her was a nod of his head and a hum.
"Poppy, perhaps Miss Faybelle would like some rest in the hospital wing tonight. I may have more information come tomorrow. " he addressed the elder woman.
Faybelles hands started to shake and her eyes water as the panic set in, 'i knew it. Ive gone crazy! Im just seeing things and they want to lock me up in the crazy ward!' Her breathing started to thicken and come faster as she started falling into a panic attack. She seen through tears, Poppy take quick steps toward her as Dumbledore stood from his seat, both mouthing something she couldnt hear over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. Poppy reached a hand forward, trying to grab Faybelles wrist, which only served to make the situation worse. Dumbledore pulled out his want from the sleeves of his purple night robe, pointed it at Faybelle and then all she saw was black.