In 1865, a young girl by the name of Alice Liddell went missing from outside of her home in Oxford, England. Left in the care of her older sister, Margaret, no one could understand how the seven-year-old had disappeared so suddenly. Yet, after multi...
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AFTER LEAVING PERCY'S COMPANY, Alice found herself walking around again, only to see George come into view a few minutes later. He looked relieved as soon as he spotted her, forcing himself to run to close the distance between them.
"There you are," he said with a smile, " everyone's been looking for you."
"Everyone, you say?" she asked in slight confusion. Surely the entire population at Hogwarts would have found her in no time.
"Well, not everyone," George clarified, " more like myself, Fred, Lee, Mr Rabbit, and Cheshire. Although between you and me, I don't think Cheshire has been putting much effort into it at all."
"That doesn't surprise me at all," she chuckled, " Cheshire tends to do things that he wants when he wants to do them. Having him part of any search party would definitely not work in anyone's favour."
"Yeah, I definitely keep that in mind if there is a next time. Anyways, are you alright? I heard about what happened with Lennon. From what Mr Rabbit told us, he was a total jerk. So don't listen to him-"
"It's alright," Alice interjected, " really, I'm fine. I mean, it hurt when Lennon said what he did but I can't really change his mind for him. I realised that if Lennon really wanted to be my friend, he would have done so regardless of what his parents said about me. Unfortunately, I don't think the strength of our friendship was strong enough. Sometimes, the rules that are reinforced are stronger. I learned that from Percy when I spoke with him earlier."
"You spoke with Percy earlier and he helped you?"
"In his own way, yes he did. Maybe he didn't realise it at the time," she said as they walked alongside each other in the corridor. " As I told him, he reminds me of my sister. She was like him in some ways, very stern in the face and the voice. She was never one to get into trouble because she really did believe in following the rules all the time. Even if it didn't leave her the happiest all the time. I think people like Percy, Margaret and Lennon follow the rules because they are afraid of the consequences even if they've never really experienced them. They would all probably be really good friends now that I think of it."
"Sounds like it."
"She was very sweet though," Alice added, " there were times where I found find myself facing a great deal of trouble, especially with my parents and she was there for me. It was mainly during the parties that my parents held. I hardly ever behaved the way I was supposed to and it usually led to me being sent to my room. Margaret always came to check on me though and sometimes she would bring me a piece of cake."
"You miss her a lot," George said, " I can tell with just how you speak about her."
"I do. I miss all of them. My parents... they could be so strict but so loving. Some of my best memories are shared with my father when I was really young even though he became distant as I grew older. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I never chased after Mr Rabbit down the rabbit hole. But then I remind myself that I would have never discovered the wonders of Wonderland, and I wouldn't be here. Well, I would have attended Hogwarts long before you all ever did. That's a weird thought, isn't it?"
George couldn't imagine Alice as an old lady, but technically, if she had lived her life as she was supposed to, she would have been ancient by the time George started his first year.
"It's really weird," he said, " but I'm glad that you went to Wonderland and then came back to our time. If I didn't think Hogwarts could get any more exciting, we get to add you and the Wonderlanders into the mix, which makes it a million times better."
"Well, thank you!"
"Don't mention it and don't let Lennon get you down. It's obvious that Wonderland isn't about dark magic. His parents are just paranoid gits and if he's dumb enough to listen to them, that's his loss. If it makes you feel any better, we could work something out for him, you know, just scare him-"
"No, George," Alice quickly cut him off, " while I appreciate the offer, I don't think it's necessary."
"Of course it's not necessary, Alice, it is fun though."
"Maybe I'll think about it."
"Good," he said, " now, are you ready to go find the others? Or do you want to wander around the castle a little longer?"
"I think we've kept the others searching long enough, let's go find them!"
Mr Rabbit had turned a corner, hoping to stumble upon Alice, only to be disappointed when he found Fred and Lee standing there.
"Anything?" he asked.
"Nope," Fred shook his head, " but Lee found a sickle."
"Lucky me, right?" Lee said holding it up and waving it around. Mr Rabbit made a face in their direction before he heard the sound of Alice's familiar giggle. He turned around to see George first and holding onto his back was Alice.
"Hey, everyone!" George called out. "Look who I found!"
He turned around exposing Alice, who slid down off his back and stood on her own two feet. She was greeted by the others who rushed up to, almost as if they were making sure that she was alright.
"Alice!" Mr Rabbit exclaimed. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said, " I'm actually doing much better. I just needed a little time to get my thoughts straight. At least, as straight as they're going to get."
"Good searching, Georgie!" Fred said, clapping his brother on the back.
"Yes, yes, good searching," Mr Rabbit told them, " but you realise that you four have already missed your first class. Don't go missing the second. Go on, head off or you'll be late!"
He pulled out his pocket watch and pointed to the time, only the others were left confused.
"Uh, that watch says it's five-" Lee went to point out the incorrect time, however, he was quickly stopped by George.
"Don't question it."
"Yeah, he gets rather defensive over the thing," Fred added.
"If you all knew the story of what that pocket watch has been through, you would understand why he's so defensive about it," Alice said in a hushed tone before they all hurried off down the corridor.
"I actually want to hear this story now," George said.
"Me too!" Lee chimed in.
"Me Fred!" Fred said with his own cheeky grin.
Alice shook her head before looking over her shoulder to make sure they were out of earshot from Mr Rabbit. "Alright well, it started at one of Hatter's tea parties. Before I came along, Mr Rabbit had a habit of passing through but never stopping. But on this occasion, the March Hare called out who had the time. Mr Rabbit was running late, of course, completely frazzled and all in a panic. Hatter spotted the watch and snatched it up to check, only to claim that it was running approximately two days slow."
"How?" Lee ventured to ask but decided against it as Fred and George shook their heads. They had learned early on that there were questions better left unanswered.
"Long story short," Alice went on to say, " Hatter completely destroyed the watch with mustard, jam, and tea. Mr Rabbit was quite heartbroken over it, I don't think he's ever truly forgiven Hatter over the matter."
"Well, if I ever meet the Mad Hatter," Lee said, " I'll be sure not to have anything valuable on me."
