The Adventures of a Girl Who Should Not Exist (Doctor Who/ Harry Potter Crossover)

Chapter Eight: A Lesson in Destiny

Chapter 8: A lesson in Destiny

I took a seat at the Ravenclaw, feeling the worst I'd felt since Gallifrey. And just thinking about that place nearly brought tears to my eyes.

The first friend I'd had on Earth, separated from me at the first school I might be accepted at.

I tried my best to block out the cheers of the Ravenclaws as they welcomed their newest housemate. Someone in the middle of the table hit it with a fork just right to make every single plate rattle.

A few other timid first-years took seats all along the long banquet table.

I watched in despair as Natalie took a seat up at the front of the hall. The brim of the hat opened.

"GRYFFINDOR!" it cried.

I closed my eyes as Natalie bit her lip and headed to her table. She received a warm welcome from her new housemates, cheering Gryffindors surrounding her in a flurry of black cloaks.

As she disappeared from sight, time seemed to slow around me.

Most people took no notice though a few Ravenclaws glanced down at their slow-moving hands in wonder before their brain processes were brought to a standstill.

Candles lit up the hall, and their flames were frozen in place. Time had stopped in this whole area, maybe even the whole castle. I doubted it, though, as I realized what'd happened.

My first time trance. The irony of the timing stung.

Time began to break free again. Candles started to flicker, people started to move, spoons started to clink.

In a blink of an eye, Time restarted. Nobody seemed to notice a thing.

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A Prefect led all the first years to Ravenclaw tower, deftly ascending the spiral staircase two steps at a time.

At the top stood a polished wooden door with no handle and only a bronze knocker shaped like an eagle with a ring in its claws.

The Prefect put on a look of superiority and knocked.

"What is the antidote to every poison?"

With a smug look, the prefect answered,

"A bezoar."

"Wrong!" answered the Eagle in a melodic voice.

The prefect looked shocked.

A small kid behind me who looked much younger than 11 stood on her tiptoes and spoke up.

"Actually, a bezoar only works for many common poisons. There is no one antidote to every poison, especially blended poisons, which, because of Golapott's third law, require more than the combination of both antidotes." she said in a squeaky voice.

The prefect looked at her, rather shocked, as the door knocker remarked,

"That bit about blended poisons was interesting," it said as the door swung open and the girl shrank back into the crowd.

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The main area, the Common Room, looked like my favorite professor's TARDIS library from back at the Pyradonian academy.

Bookshelves seemed to grow like vines across the walls, while tall windows lined half the wall space. From the tall tower, you could see most of the grounds.

A star-speckled domed ceiling was above and it shifted like the night sky above. A tall, slender marble statue stood in the center of a small alcove.

Staircases on either side curled up through bookshelves into a cozy-looking area with a fireplace, squashy chairs, chess tables and books everywhere.

"Girls dormitories that way!" yelled the prefect, indicating one wall of books. "It changes every day, but the one fake book opens the wall for you." he said. The girls split from the group.

He indicated a shelf on the other side of the bust alcove. "Same for the boys."

I spotted the fake book right away.

I'd taken Human Literature at Pyradonian, and we'd been trained to memorize thousands of Human books. A red one three shelves up with brown lettering didn't compute, so I leapt for it, pulling it down.

Instead of coming off the shelf, it pulled down and I stepped back as the wall of books morphed to create an entryway.

The boys were still puzzling over theirs and most of the girls were looking at me strangely.

Inside of the bookshelf was a wall of water and many staircases. A small piece of paper outside the shortest staircase listed names and Dormitory numbers.

I quickly found my name "Anonymous, Amelia" and the number 6.

I hurried up the stairs, where a circular room of doors greeted me. 6 was to my right, so I stepped inside.

It was a nice room. Next to the door was a stack of trunks, presumably all my dorm-mates' things. It was circular and seemed to be inside a small tower. Compartments were all along the curved wall, with frosted glass sliding doors so people couldn't see in. Next to each compartment was a wall-mounted desk with a lamp and lots of drawers. I picked the one furthest from the door as my own, picked up my meager trunk, dragged it to the compartment and slid it inside.

Inside the compartment was a small bed, a shelf, and a very small closet.

There was also a tall window to let in natural light or for you to take in the view.

I slid my trunk under the shelf and lay back on the bed.

I could get used to this, I thought, as I lay there staring at the ceiling.

2.67 seconds later, my acute hearing picked up the sound of the dorm door opening.

I slid open my frosted glass door to see who'd be sharing my dorm.

It was the kid from the stairs who's outshone the prefect in her humble way.

I smiled and waved and she timidly smiled back.