Falling Through: Hogwarts

A week later I found myself lying in bed, dreading what was to come. Depending on the teacher I could be royally screwed. With shaking hands I imagined it to be Dumbledore to come and escort me there. He would immediately check my mind and know that I was a fraud. I wouldn't be able to go to Hogwarts or meet any of the other students. I'd be stuck in London in the form of a child with no way to do anything. Flitwick I could accidentally pun to who knows where. He's such a tiny person and I am a klutz. I'd have to go through the next seven years with that as my first impression. I'd need to make as many preparations for this to go as smoothly as possible. I needed as much time as I could get.

Shaking off my nerves, I crawled out of bed and padded to the kitchen. Deciding that eating a bowl of cereal would remove any fire hazards. As I chewed I pondered what would make the best impression. I could wear a pair of shorts or a skirt but then I would have to find a matching shirt to pair with it. There would be more edges for it to catch on. Plus all the different combinations of shirts, shorts, and skirts. Dresses would be the simplest solution and all I would have to pick would be a light cardigan and sandals. Both of those things I'd be wearing anyway. According to the weather report, it was supposed to be 23 degrees celsius. I think that converts to about 74 degrees.

Uggg I hate converting things. Can't everyone just agree on one method to measure things? I just want everyone to have a stable measuring system. Especially concerning the weather and women's clothes. Those clothes are never the same size. Brand to brand, not even a shoe will always fit at the same size. I was not looking forward to finding things would fit me while avoiding blob clothes and "helpful" employees. My second shopping trip a few weeks ago went much like the first. Different from the first the store had more outfits that weren't reminiscent of flora throwup. My wardrobe had expanded with choices. I felt more comfortable now in my clothes.

Slipping on a white tank top style dress, I smiled. Pockets lovely little things. They are difficult to find with dresses. I was so glad to find them on this one. Throwing on a mid sleeved cream cardigan I spun in front of the mirror. Seemingly childish, I know, but it was to make sure everything was in place. Finding nothing wrong I slipped on a pair of brown leather ankle-strapped sandals. Wiggling my toes I was ready to go.

Sitting back down on the couch I gripped my bag strap in both hands. Waiting tensely for the sound of knocking I fidgeted. The sound of silence was deafening. Fiddling with the remote I turned on the tv. Playing on the screen was a pair of cartoons. To me, it didn't matter what was on as long as it could fill this void of time. Some kind of story was playing out in front of my eyes and I couldn't make sense of it. Swaths of colors and squeaky voices did nothing to help. The longer I sat trying to distract myself the more my anxiety of the unknown grew. Circling around my head was the thought from this morning. They were back with a vengeance of what if's.

What if this universe sends Hagrid. He ends up remembering me and my lies. Though it was unlikely since he was so happy picking up Harry in a few years. I think I could safely remove him from the list. The most obvious choices left are the head of houses. Sending a random teacher might just cause confusion. If I remember correctly it was McGonagall for Gryffindor, Flitwick for Ravenclaw, Snape for Slytherin, and Sprout for Hufflepuff. Snape's the first to go. He wouldn't ever lower himself to lead around some random kid. Professor Sprout can't be it, she has too many plants to care for. They would rebel. That just leaves McGonagall and Flitwick. McGonagall wouldn't be bad but I was partial to Flitwick. Even though I worried about tripping over him he was the best choice. He always seemed like a middle ground professor. Not antagonistic or strict. Fair to those who weren't from his house. Gifted at dueling... I wonder if he would teach me. It seems like a great life skill. I was calming down now that I had thought logically about the possibilities. One knock was all it took to ramp my anxiety back up to a ten.

My heart slammed into the back of my throat beating like a drum. Getting up, I walked over to the door. Stretching to see out the peephole brought me no clues. All I could see was black. While I was confused, the second knocking came, impatient at my lack of response. Nervously, I reached for the doorknob. Slowly inching the door open I peeked out. The blackness from the peephole now made sense. Standing in the hall outside my door was Severus Snape. Before I could stop myself I slammed the door closed. I couldn't believe that they had sent Snape to get me. I was hyperventilating at the thought.

Loud pounding sounded while I was lost in thought. Oh my gosh, I just slammed the door in Snape's face. I hoped that he hadn't heard caught that, maybe he just thought I tripped into the door. Knowing that I had to greet him I slowly reopened the door. Peeking out to gauge his reaction. He was ready this time and was looking down to see me. Making eye contact I shivered at the irritated expression that he wore. "Miss Parker I presume?" He sneered down at me with his signature hooked nose and greasy black hair. I wondered what it would look like clean. Sweeping the door open I mustered my strength "Yes that's me, and who might you be? Are you here to take me to get my school things? " I tried not to stutter at his intimidating aura. "You may call me Professor Snape I am the potions teacher at Hogwarts. You are correct that I am here to take you to find your supplies. Now hurry. Grab what you need. Since I only need to accompany you, I do not want to waste my time on your dallying." Following his instructions, I snatched my phone, bag, and keys from the couch.

Stepping out I locked the door behind me. Before I could react he grabbed my shoulder and the squeezing began. Apparently, sidelong apparition was as uncomfortable as Harry in the books described. I was being squeezed into a tube and flushed with a pressure washer to try to get me out. When I finally felt ground again I was doubled over. Vomit cascaded from my mouth. All evidence of my earlier eating had exited my mouth. Disoriented I thanked the gods that I wasn't spliced in but cursed internally the next second. Now vomit drenched the front of my dress. Standing up carefully to avoid any bile covering me I tried to regain my senses. Glancing around I saw we were outside the Leaky Cauldron on the muggle side. We were in a corner that could only be seen from the entrance of the pub. Regaining my senses came with the realization that my vomit had landed on Snape's shoes.

Undisguised contempt and disgust shown in his eyes. He didn't bother to hide his current level of dislike from me. Pulling out his wand I prayed that he was pragmatic enough to clean me as well as himself. One quick spell later and I felt the relief of being clean. Glancing down, I made a mental note. The very first spell I would learn would be Scourgify."Follow." he ordered. No kindness or concern over the child that he had just traumatized without warning. Not even checking to see that I had heard him and was following. Snape just strode arrogantly onto the door. I was angry at this injustice. He knew full well that I couldn't control any of this. He was also the one who choose the mode of transport. Giving me any sort of warning would have prevented this.

Staring at his back almost made me want to plot something. Something devious to get back at him. The only thing stopping me from going forward was the fact that he bothered to clean me up. Following nauseously behind him, we walked into the pub and straight through to the brick wall behind it. Not one person said hello or even a passing nod. As if they were ignoring his existence. Putting that notion on the back burner I picked up my pace to keep up with his long limbs. Going straight to Gringotts he didn't pause and wait for me as I was jostled by the crowd until he cleared the second door. " Do you have money?" Nodding yes he tried again. " Muggle money?' acting stupid I asked "Muggle?" Sighing he explained. "Why do I even bother, of course, you only have muggle money. Muggle is the term used for non-magical people. Here they have pounds for their currency. Wizards use Galleons as ours there are roughly 5 pounds to a galleon. There are 17 Sickles in a Galleon, and 29 Knuts in a Sickle, meaning there are 493 Knuts to a Galleon. Do you understand?" Nodding my head yes even though the convoluted math hurt my head I relaxed. Eventually, I would adapt to the change in currency. Even though it didn't matter, sooner or later I would understand.

Taking out a packet I had prepared I tried to pass it to Snape. I had made the packet so no one could see into my vault. Ignoring my hands he said, "Follow." Traipsing along behind him once again he moved us to the currency conversion counter. It was the one with a little British flag since we were converting pounds. Located at the furthest corner from the entrance. The goblin running this counter didn't seem to speak to anyone. Only pointing to where we needed to place the money. He would then swiftly move his hands to count the bills before doling out the coins in cheap bags that cost two knuts. He seemed genuinely fed up with the whole thing.

When it was our turn, I tried to place the envelope on the counter. But because of my stature and this being a counter for a.d.u.l.ts I couldn't reach. Irritation pulsed through the air at me from both sides. The goblin being fed up with everything and Snape at my inability to quickly get through the line. Reaching down Snape snatched the envelope and passed it to the mute goblin. They seemed to be in silent agreement we needed to finish this quickly. The goblin counted out the galleons and placed it into the sack. Snape grabbed it off the counter and tossed it at me. Before he turned briskly and walked away. Trying to keep up with him was almost impossible. Long legs coupled with all the people walking about once we exited the bank we were quickly separated.

Stopping in my tracks I tried to spot him in the crowd. "What do you think you're doing?" a snide voice reprimanded me from behind. Turning my head I stared at the man that had deemed it necessary to speed walk just so that his pompous robes could billow behind him. All while escorting a child who was at least a foot shorter. Absolutely necessary. Aggravated at his intolerance of my current pace I could feel my shyness evaporating and replaced with a more disgruntled attitude. Apparently, lack of response equaled understanding for Snape. Abruptly he turned and continued to walk away. He glanced back to shout for me. He seemed to have decided it was less tedious to slow down than to lose me again.

Trailing behind his now slower gait I distracted myself with thoughts of revenge. Perhaps his hair would look nicer in another color. Personally, I thought neon pink would be funniest but neon green was a close second. When we arrived at his destination, I was surprised that it was Ollivanders. We were getting my wand first. Normally it could take a good chunk of time to do. Everyone else saved it for near the end so it wouldn't be lost among the purchases. Snape's jerkiness levels were on the rise as we strolled through the doors of Ollivander's.