Is this a splash from a different past? Seems like it!
Hogwarts; Great Hall
Mei was definitely a little disoriented with everything happening so fast, the hundreds of eyes on her weren't helping either. However, if there's one thing she knows it's that if she's confused in a situation then so are they, and that's always useful. So of course running on adrenaline, shock and the power of ADHD she cocks her head to the side and blurts,
"Well, rule number one in support. In case of an emergency, always carry a floatation device."
Internally cringing, it's more a golden rule than the 1st rule, that’d be proper safety equipment. Power Loader would be nagging if he heard me say that.
The Hall breaks out in loud chatter, so she takes the moments to absorb her surroundings. The students are in color coordinated uniforms with black.. Capes? Stone walls and torches. Wait, torches? Her eyes zoom in on the flames. Holy shit, yeah, actual torches. No lightbulbs, no outlets. And that's a big door.
“Need a hand,”
“Or two?”
Mei whips back around to the two tall redheads in red ties who have their hands outstretched. One was wearing a sweater with a G and the other had a sweater with an F. She felt a wide grin spread on her face as she grabbed both their arms to pull herself up. A tingle raced down both arms as she made contact with them, weirdly feeling a little more connected to both the twins. She shelved the thought to ask about later.
Behind the twins, an older lady in green, an even older man in a periwinkle stars, and a 30 y/o goth with a scowl that would make even aizawa pause, were approaching from the table at the front of the room. Dropping both the ginger's hands she steps forward and gives a respectful bow and introduces herself. That's what you do in normal social situations right? Might as well fall back on manners if she possibly time traveled or something. Whos she's kidding, no electricity, more than likely she's not in the right space time. Quirks have done alot to open up our understanding of reality, just 50 years ago someone was born with a dimension quirk where they could send a person or object to a different reality for a specific amount of time. They still work with a research team finding others with similar abilities.
“Hello, my name is Hatsume Mei and I’m super sorry for dropping into your dinner hall” Nailed it.
The dark haired man seemed to look down his nose at me. “Well, that was quite the… Entrance,” he drawled.
“Now now Severus. Hello Miss Hatsume, would you care to follow us to the back antechamber for an explanation on your oh so surprise arrival?” asked the man with the super long beard and twinkling eyes. That twinkles a little creepy, I wonder if I could replicate the effect in a pair of contacts.. Thoughts to be shelved for later.
“Of course sir.” As Mei follows them to the chamber she turns to the twins and waves, “thanks for the hands F & G, Hope to meet you again!”
~~~~~~~~~
“Would you like any food dear? We were just finishing up dinner when you, ehm, dropped in” an older busty woman in a yellow hat asked.
Her Stomach chose that moment to make a cliché grumble and a plate legit pops onto the table. “How…”
“So Miss Hatsume Mei, as Headmaster I’d like to welcome you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I'm sure you’ve heard of me but my name is Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore, Head Master, Chief Warlock, and Supreme Mugwump.” The old bearded man says as he takes the seat across from me. Warlock as in a user of magic? That’d explain the food popping into existence, and possibly the lack of technology.
Mei couldn't help staring at the odd old man. Seems a bit narcissistic. She guesses she’ll just have to treat him like any other difficult hero client along with trying to bullshit a story till she knows if she can just say she's possibly not from this reality.
“Ah I’m sorry Headmaster I’m afraid I'm not from this area and had not recognized you, you’re a very powerful wizard and it's an absolute honor to meet someone of your station and accomplishments.” She smiled while holding her breath waiting for someone to call her out, there's no way it could be that easy right? Headmaster of a school for witches and wizards, so he must be a wizard himself. Then there's his introductions, he must like to be the most respected person in the room.
Her breath released when the twinkle in his eye seemed to increase. Guess the ‘fake it til you make it’ stand true in many situations. “Let me introduce you to the rest of the staff here and then you can explain how you ended up falling in the middle of our great hall so we can sort out getting you returned home. To my right here is Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, who teaches transfiguration and is head of Gryffindor house. Seated next to her is Our Charms Master and head of Ravenclaw House, Filius Flitwick.”
He was the first person she'd seen that didn't fit the generic human mold shape, it was more than a little refreshing. Having grown up around quirks, it's already a bit shocking and uncomfortable to see so little variation in everyone. Like she's sitting in a history simulation. Hopefully the little professor means there's more to this world and he's not just a naturally small human.
Gesturing to his left, Dumbledore continued his introductions. “This is Severus Snape, resident Potions Master and head of Slytherin. Finally we have Pomona Sprout, head of Hufflepuff and master of Herbology.” He finished with a wave over to the busty woman who offered food. Mei’s decided she's already high on her favorites list.
“Thank you for the introductions, sir.” She smiled at each of the professors hoping to make a good impression. Mei still wasn't sure how long she’d be here and wanted the best chances. Maijima-sensei would be so proud! Huh potions, charms, and transfiguration are definitely magical things, perhaps her story wouldn't be too far fetched for them. “ I know this may be a weird question but could I get the date and year?”
Snape raised an eyebrow before flicking the stick that suddenly appeared in his hand and a misty clock panel appeared in the air. Despite trying to sit in place and nonchalantly take in the first show of magic she’s watched be conjured, she can't stop her quirk from Zooming in on the mist particles and watching how its smallest atoms acted like pieces of glitter reflecting the light.
Noticing they were looking weirdly at her eyes, she continued. “According to Potion Master Snape's clock, it's the fall of 1994.” Snape's' other eyebrow shot up at the use of a proper title. Did students here not follow respectful terms of address? “15 minutes ago I was working on a project in my support class and it malfunctioned. Before the malfunction I was at UA Academy in Japan and it was March 6th, 2078.” All of their eyes grow wide and Mei see’s Dumbledore start to open his mouth. “I know this already sounds crazy but I don't think I’m from your future. The main thing being I haven't seen any quirks. These are a type of individualized superpower that by this year in our history over 50% of the world's population had. You can see that mine is in my eyes, allowing me to zoom in at distances up to 5kilometers or to the anatomic level for items up close. Other than with Charms Master Flitwick, most everyone has looked alike.” Oof she hopes the professor doesn't mind she said he looked different to the norm… She's never been this glad before her parents forced socialization, this would have been a nightmare otherwise.
She pulls out her wallet and then her ID Card and cash card, showing them the dates they were issued. “I don't know how else to get you to believe me unless you have a special spell or something.” She notices Dumbledore and Snape exchange a glance and McGonagall's sighs, probably knowing what they're thinking.
Dumbledore leans forward with a look that might be concern? It's hard to tell since he also seems to be trying to cover up some excitement. Weird old guy. “There is in fact a spell and it's called Legilimency. It essentially allows the caster into your mind space and they can experience some of your memories. Due to the situation and what you’re implying I think it best is we cast the spell. Severus is an accomplished Legilimens, do you consent to such a thing? He’ll simply verify your story and then retreat from your mind.” The twinkle seemed to be going full force, but it seemed like the easiest and fastest option.
“Sure thing! What do I need to do?’
“Sit still,” the potions master says and before I can react I have a wand pointed between my eyes and a spell being cast. “Legilimens.” It was bizarre to feel someone in my head, it’s not bad per say, kinda like a sweeping breeze but still something I'd rather avoid in the future.
Severus is suspicious of the pink haired girl in front of them. Her mention of verifying the story using magic seemed to be the crack in the door Dumbledore was looking for if the look we shared was any indication. While the mind magic isn't illegal, it is definitely frowned on to use it on a minor even during criminal investigations. Pensive memories typically work just fine too, but this situation needs slightly deeper digging and the girls might not know what memories are actually relevant.
While in her head, his suspicions don't seem to be entirely unfounded. While the story checks out, she’s a lot more of a troublemaker than she is trying to make herself out to seem like. He’ll keep that to himself for now though. Just if for once he might have the chance to teach a kid that's obviously not a dunderhead, being probably crazy aside he could see that this muscular Japanese teenager is a genius. Looking down to the woman next to him he knows she sees the potential too. Pomona can sniff out talent better than a niffler after gold.
“She seems to be telling the truth, and might even be stuck here due to the circumstances of arrival. What would you like to do, Albus?” He deferred to the older man, hoping she was magical enough to stay in the castle as a student.
Mei watched the aged man fold his hands and look consideringly down towards her. “Would you consent to a scan Miss Hatsume that would show whether you contain the amount of magic needed to enroll as a student here?” After a nod, she again has a stick pointed at her with a spell being cast. A warm golden yellow glow surrounds her skin startling her away from the wand. When she looks up Snape seems oddly relieved while Sprout and Flitwick have soft smiles. “Wonderful! Just wonderful, now Miss Hatsume it would seem there's nothing to worry about. How about you finish the rest of the food in front of you and we can show you to a temporary room for tonight. Tomorrow we’ll have 1 or 2 of the head of house escort you to Diagon Alley for supplies shopping, then get you sorted into a house during dinner. Tonight is the first day the students arrive as such tomorrow is the start of the weekend, so there's a bit of time to ask questions and familiarize yourself as much as possible before school starts.”
With another nod she hurries to finish up her food, she's been dying to get to a quiet room to figure out the NO tech problems since she got here. She's excited to learn more about this mystery world tomorrow.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The support class stood in silence. What just happened? Power Loader jumped into action and frantically ran over to Hatsume's work station. There was a black mark on the table and the floor where she was standing. Of course, only she’d have something malfunction spectacularly just for it to explode afterwards leaving no remains or clues. Tapping at the tablet on his arm only barely calmed his anxiety. Every Support student gets an implant that works as a type of health monitor. For events like an explosion or building collapse or a student getting hit by a beam of light and disappearing. Most of which are sadly common in the support industry, we are able to monitor the students' vitals and track location.
Right now Hatsume's tracking feature is going haywire and throwing all kinds of wrong data, but her health stats are stable and consistent. Her heart and blood pressure spiked but are slowly receding. Mostly liking from spontaneous teleportation. At least this might mean she is not in immediate danger if she is not afraid or panicking at the moment.
The reassurance that she's alive has all the students sinking into their seats in relief. After ending class early, Maijima hurries to the principal's office. Already dreading the upcoming explanation that a student is missing again. At least it's not kidnapping this time.