Harry Potter & How Time Began

Chapter 3 - The Mystery Of Who We Are

"I suggest that in the future you make your choices carefully, the next toes you stand on might be your own" - Professor Time.

Intimidating to say the least, Horatia swallowed as she listened to the voice and opened the door , walking inside the large office. Completely floored by it's design of wonderful, glittering objects and the fire red Phoenix that sat on his perch having a quick snooze. Albus Dumbledore was gazing down at paper work.
"You wanted to see-she swallowed-me sir" the young Slytherin stood a few feet away from the desk. Dumbledore raised his face, his twinkling blue eyes scanning the room and finally fell on her.
"Come and sit down" He spoke gently. She obeyed, taking a seat on the very large leather arm chair that sat in front of the desk. She felt she'd sink and never be retrieved from the chair it was so big. Another paused while he signed, scratching that same scroll that was on the note in her sweaty hand.
"I have a question for you, ms McGonagal" He said, not lifting his eyes to look at her.
"Yes Professor?"
"Who are you?, not your name or title, but who are you really?" He placed his quill in its holder, collecting his papers, sorting them neatly in a pile.
"Beg your pardon?"
"Who are you Horatia, that is the question" He spoke gently again. She paused , frowning at the bizarreness.
"That's a very philosophical question to ask a 11 year old sir" She answered.
"But you are no regular 11 year old are you Horatia?" He clasped his piano built fingers together.
"I s'posse, why do you believe me irregular?"
"Your sister told me you've been hearing voices" He stated.
"Yes I was hoping you could tell me what they were?"
"Not what, but who" He said. "You are what they call, a born legillimens, very rare to born with the gift, it's so unrare to posses the gift, if one is willing to suffer the training, I'm an oclumence it's the opposite of you, you look at me you see a black wall, a new canvas"
She nodded.
"But when you look at others, like your sister Minerva or your friends you see a fully painted canvas, of their life rolling in their head, seeing you sometimes from their prospective, hearing their voice in your ear".
"The 'seeing me from their prospective' part is actually quite terrifying and highly disorientating" She said shuddering. Dumbledores small smile grew a little.
"You are very different from your classmates, not just with your gift but your unwillingness to be cruel" He stated, his blue eyes observing her from his half-moon spectacles.
"You don't know that well professor;I'm just as bad as the others, if not worse because I know it to be wrong , to do those things" She said looking to her lap. "I shouldn't have helped Severus with his prank, I'm guessing that's why you called me here, to tell me off for hurting James, he really has done nothing and I was stupid and cruel" She sniffed.
"Horatia I called you here to ask you a question" Dumbledore said, the twinkle lit up brighter in his blue eyes.
"Who I am sir?, I don't know who I am, I don't fit at home because I am a Slytherin, I don't fit with the muggles because I am a wizard, I do not fit with wizards because I was raised by a muggle and I don't fit in Slytherin because I don't care about house wars, I want to be everyone's friend, anyone's friend is a better expression , the Slytherin's hate me because I'm too nice and the other houses hate me because I'm a Slytherin. I'm lost , I am no one, I belong to no country, I'm a gypsy" She shrugged.
"Correct" Dumbledore said.
"Correct? Was there an actually right answer to that?"
"Yes" He nodded. "And you said it, you admitted your wrongs and rights and accepted your oddity and now you will move from this day a new, I quite like your expression, a gypsy a fine explanation of people like us"
"Like us, Sir?" She asked.
"Yes, like us, odd , bizarre folk, that people expect any time now to crack" He said matter-factly.
"Oh"
"But it's not a bad thing" He added.
"Oh?"
"People don't expect us to do anything extraordinary but the truth is Horatia it's the weirdest of people, who are mocked by majority, that do the most extraordinary things" He said , she smiled at that.
"But if we change?" She asked.
"Change is good and bad" a cloud covered his eyes as a sad thought appeared in his mind, "but the right people, who change for good, are good and if you change to good then you stay that way, wither people believe it or not, even the most unthinkable , unimaginable, unredeemable people, can change"
"So you asked me here, to ask who I was?"
"And to give you and Severus detention , as well as the three boys that interrogated you in the alley , Sirius was not present I am correct?"
Her heart sank slightly.
"That's correct, but may I ask a favour, two actually ?"
"Depends on the depth of their meaning and how needed they really are"
"Well professor, Sev and Potter can't be in the same facility never mind room, so placing both in one with a bad mood and quiet time to think of plans, is disastrous"
"And the other?"
"My sister will croak me if she found out I got detention , by the headmaster himself, her employer might I add, in the first week, she'll go bananas " She sighed , flopping back into the large chair.
"I see" Dumbledore tilted his head, placing a hand on his beard, stroking down the sticking up strands. "And doing these two things would do what exactly?"
"Well for starters sir, your saving me from being hated by the ruthless prankster of our age and if Snape finds out that I was the one who told, willingly admitted to the crime, then I'll be shunned by the only friend i have currently, so you keep a friendship going and keep a gap open for me to have one in the Gryffindors in the future, a house unity, by not telling my sister you'll be keeping me alive, so that's very important" She stated exhaustedly. Dumbledore smiled to this.
"Other than a early demise, why do you not want me to tell your sister, or for her to find out about your cauldron cake sabotage?" He leaned slightly on the desk to observe her fully, he looked as if he wished to understand her better, listen to her . Growing up ignored by your mother, bossed by your sister afterwards and given the cold shoulder by your school, having Albus Dumbledore look at you intently ready to listen was all the more convincing to open up.
"Well she's more like my ma than a sister really" She sighed. "Loves it really, I was like her first wee student but I just wanted a sister after da died, but beggars can't be choosers, did I use that correctly?" She looked to him.
"Very correctly" he nodded. "Do feel lonely?" He asked genuinely.
She paused, biting her lip. "I guess" she said softly. "My friends just like me cause I'm smart and they copy of my homework and ask me to do there's , even Lucius does it, I don't think I'll have a real one, especially if I'm a Slytherin"
He paused for a moment, before scratching down something on a small card shaped parchment. She watched his slanted scroll spread across the page.
"If you don't mind, if your not busy, meet me here , at this time" He slid across the paper. "Someone I'd like you to meet, if you haven't already" She picked up the paper, how Dumbledore managed to draw a perfect diagram of the west side of the castle in that short time and right directions was beyond her; actually anything Albus Dumbledore did was beyond her.
"Okay" she said grazing the page with her eyes.
"That's your detention" He smiled , her mouth falling into a 'O' shape.
"Is that everything?" She asked, sliding off the seat. She quickly added "Sir"
"No, could you" he copied the same that was on her paper onto another. "Give this to Remus Lupin, he's a Gryffindor"
"I think we've met previous"
"Then you'll know him then" He folded the paper and wrote 'Remus' on top.
"Yes professor" He handed her the paper and she took it gently. She looked at him for a second.
"Is there anything the matter?"
"No headmaster it's just, I don't think your bizarre, I think you're cool" She smiled.
"The felling is mutual , young Ms McGonagal" He answered. She smiled bigger that time ;looking while walking past Fawkes the Phoenix with a great admiration.
"Goodnight Professor" She said at the door.
"Goodnight Horatia"

She left the room felling happy, even slightly looking forward to her detention with Dumbledore.

She was leaving Dumbledore's office corridor when her sister walked past with the infamous Maurders in tow.
"Horatia, what are you dong here?" She asked.
"Oh Dumbledore asked me for a favour, I happily obliged" She smiled. Seeing the four boys, her eyes catching the handsome one who was smirking.
"Oh, are you alright?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Quite sis, you?" She moved her to see the boys again, they were mouthing 'sis' to each other.
"Yes, I'm fine, what did I say when in school, I'm professor "
"I can't it's weird" Horatia scrunched her nose. "Who's that" she pointed behind her.
"Horatia meet, James, Peter, Remus and Sirius, They are in your year" She said moving aside. "Come on then , I better take you back to class Potter and explain to Flitwick about your situation"
"Are you still unwell?" Asked Horatia directed to James.
"How'd you know he was sick?" The boy called Sirius that caused her to grow butterflies asked.
"Well it's just I saw him run away from lunch" She explained.
"He can't talk much, skin on the roof of his mouth still healing, glue burning it off and all" Peter answered . This new information made her feel worse.
"I hope you have a quick recovery" She said to James, who couldn't answer for himself, he just sniffed and pushed up his glasses.
"Come on then you " Minerva left , James, Sirius and Petter following.
"Remus" Horatia called, he paused in midstep. "Dumbledore wanted you to have this, said you've to follow the instructions" She said. Remus nodded looking at the paper.
"We got detention, for interrogating you" He muttered.
"Oh,well I heard that Sev did too for making the glue, but you didn't hear it from me okay" She smiled. He nodded again wearing a smile of his own.
"Your not so bad for a Slytherin girl"
She shrugged.
"Your not so bad for a Gryffindor boy"
"Moony! Come on!" Sirius cried. They both looked to him, he was ushering him over.
"I won't tell, see you around" He scampered off not before meeting up with Sirius again and sending her a wave, then they both left.

She sighed back in her room. A knock on her bedroom door.
"Come in"
It was Lucius.
"Just came to see if everything's okay, you've been awfully quiet all night, at dinner you hardly said a word"
"I'm fine Lucius, you shouldn't worry" She smiled.
"You are my friend" He stated matter-factly. Crossing his arms. "You wanna go down to the kitchens for some snack stealing"
She sighed again, pushing her finished homework away, placing it in her bag.
"Why not, nothing else to do" She swung her legs off the bed and left the room with Lucius, for their new tradition of 'snack stealing'.

She couldn't help but think about Dumbledore, she found him a complete dafty but he was awesome. She admired him so much but worried as well, he was so smart, what did he have in store at Detention?.