Chapter 3: Imagination and Potatoes

February 10, 2004

“Um, where are we?” Thursday started to ask, but she was immediately shushed by the other girls as they stared at their new surroundings. They were in a large entrance hall, lit by the fire roaring in the fireplace they’d just fallen out of and flickering torches affixed to the stone walls. A grand marble staircase sat opposite a huge set of wooden doors. Several other sets of doors could be seen here and there, always in pairs.

“This place is huge,” Renn whispered, sounding awed.

“I bet my parents’ entire house would fit in here,” Kaiki said, staring upward. “Where’s the ceiling?”

“Ah, there you are!” someone exclaimed. The agents turned to find an older woman, dressed in emerald green robes, black hair pulled back in a tight bun, eyeing them disdainfully over a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles. “You must be the exchange students from America. And improperly dressed as well, I see. Well, never mind, there is plenty of time to change before the feast. Your trunks arrived earlier; the house elves have stacked them against the wall there.” She pointed across the room. “The girl’s lavatory is over there. Please change and then you will join the headmaster and me in the Great Hall. Hurry now.” She turned and swished away towards a set of double doors. The agents looked at each other before scurrying to “their” trunks.

“How do we tell which trunk belongs to who?” Forty-Two asked, staring at the row of trunks.

“Whom,” Thursday corrected absently. “And look, they’ve got initials on them.” Sure enough, each trunk had two initials stenciled on the end. Forty-Two warily approached a worn brown trunk with dull brass fastenings.

“Those are my initials,” she said blankly. As the others watched, the little blond pulled the trunk out from the wall and popped the latches open. The hinges squeaked as she pushed the lid open. “Ireland!” she exclaimed, pulling out a teddy bear with green shamrocks printed on its fur. “This is definitely my stuff.” It didn’t take long for each of the other girls to locate their own trunks and pull out their new school uniforms. No one noticed Omega hanging back, waiting until everyone else had claimed a trunk before moving towards the last one.

Ten minutes later, nine agents emerged from the bathroom identically dressed in gray pleated skirts, knee socks, wool sweaters and black hooded robes that brushed their ankles. Ruka and Forty-Two began twirling, seeing how far they could get their robes to flare. Forty-Two bumped into Omega, who glared at her.

“Ok,” Omega began, smoothing out her robes, “so we’ve all de-aged and they think we’re exchange students. Who votes we play it for all it’s worth?” The chorus of ‘ayes’ echoed in the large hall as the agents headed for the Great Hall.

“Um, guys, where are we?” Thursday timidly asked again as Omega and Assassin pushed open the doors. Her question was immediately answered by the ancient wizard on the other side of the doors.

“Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster. I trust you had a safe journey?” Albus Dumbledore was tall with a flowing white beard and an amused look on his bespectacled face. Omega gazed at the room for a moment, taking in the four long house tables, the professors’ table at the front of the room, and the candles hovering just out of reach. Behind her, Forty-Two looked rather shell-shocked as Pixy, Kaiki, and Renn were huddled together, staring at the enchanted ceiling and whispering. Dragon and Ruka were looking around with wide eyes, Assassin looked downright gleeful, and Thursday just looked faintly confused.

“This is Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house and transfiguration professor.” The stern-faced woman nodded slightly to them and produced a piece of parchment from somewhere within her emerald robes.

“Which one of you is Victoria Adams?” The agents looked at each other in confusion for a few seconds until the girl who used to be known as Victoria slowly lifted her hand. The professor raised an eyebrow at her, obviously unsure of why the girl had taken so long to respond. McGonagall said nothing though, other then to tell her she was to be placed in the fourth year. “Gia Carrington…Mackenzie Douglas…Hilary French…Sarah Garrison…Wendy Kilmer…Cassidy Morgan…Lexi Ritzman…Julianne Taylor.” When the list was finished, the tally came to two sixth years, three fifth years, two fourth years, a third year, and a second year. Omega glanced at Assassin, not surprised to see that the second in command was rather fuming over her placement.

“The train pulled into the station about five minutes ago; the older students should be arriving any minute. Come, the room where you are to wait is just outside these doors.” As she spoke, the professor led the girls out of the Great Hall and through a much smaller door. Omega turned to look at the headmaster one last time and was surprised when he winked at her. “You will be sorted after the first years,” McGonagall continued. “They will be joining you here in about twenty minutes.” She left the agents to their own devices in the bare room.

“Well, this ought to be interesting,” Omega said, sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall. Forty-Two and Ruka resumed their robe-flaring spinning, joined this time by Renn. Most of the others followed Omega’s example, but Assassin just stood there, looking slightly ticked.

“I’m a fifth year? I should be in the same year as Thursday. We were in the same grade back home, why’d they put me back a year?”

“You’re not actually sixteen yet,” Omega told her. “The term’s just started, it’s the first of September. At home I was a year ahead of both of you, but since my birthday isn’t till December, Thursday and I are in the same year. And since Ruka’s so much younger, she’s actually a year behind Kaiki and Pixy.”

“But if today’s September first, then my birthday’s only three days away,” Assassin complained, whining slightly. All motion in the room stopped as everyone stared at the dark-haired girl.

“Are you whining?” Thursday asked, unable to keep the astonishment out of her voice. Assassin froze, eyes wide.

“No,” she answered hastily.

“It’s just the British school system,” Renn commented, lazily slouching to the floor. “If you’re not the right age by the time school starts you get to wait.” An impish gleam sparked in her eyes. “Welcome to fifth year.” Assassin glared at her.

“I have a question no one else seems to have thought of yet,” said Kaiki. “What are we doing here? I mean, no one has a dimension hopper like last time, right?” Everyone shook their heads. “And it didn’t feel like a hopper jump. For goodness sake, they seemed to be expecting us. Not only have we fallen through a dimensional hole, but we’ve apparently gone back in time as well.”

“Let’s see, if I’m supposed to be sixteen, and it’s September first…” Thursday quickly did the math in her head and finally came up with an answer. “It must be 1998.”

“That’s the year I joined the agency,” Dragon said softly.

“Ooh, what year is Harry Potter in?” Ruka asked eagerly. “The first book was published, like, this year, right?”

“Yes, but he was born in 1980,” Omega replied authoritatively. “That puts him at being eighteen now, so he would have graduated last year.” The girls looked crestfallen at the news, so she added hastily, “But some of the characters we know would still be here. Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and of course, the professors.”

“Aw, no Draco!” Kaiki whined.

“Who do you suppose –” Forty-Two started, but just then the door creaked open and nearly 130 eleven-year-old kids filed into the room. Omega watched them, nearly laughing at the scared looks on most of the young faces. Of course, looking at the rest of her agents, they didn’t look much older.

Before they knew it, the agents were trailing behind the new first years as they followed Professor McGonagall into the Great Hall and down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables to the front of the room. It didn’t take long for McGonagall to throw the agents the evil eye because of their whispering. The sorting went as described in the books, the new students called up in name order, the ancient hat dropped over their heads, and the hat calling out one of the four houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff. Despite the quick pace through the names, there were still 130 to be sorted and the agents quickly grew bored and began whispering again, this time predicting what houses they would end up in.

As most of the group already knew, students were sorted into houses based on traits the sorting hat felt they possessed great stores of. Ravenclaws were the smart ones, Gryffindors were considered to be the bravest, Slytherins were ambitious (though many also considered them evil), and Hufflepuffs were hardworking. It was quickly concluded that Renn would probably be in Ravenclaw, Assassin, Pixy, and Kaiki would most likely be in Slytherin, and the others would probably be Gryffindors. As it turned out, they were only partially right.

“And these are our exchange students from the United States,” Dumbledore addressed the students once the sorting of the first years was complete. “They will be joining us for the school year, so I encourage you all to get to know our guests.”

“The entire year?” Ruka whispered incredulously to Omega. The older agent shrugged.

“Victoria Adams,” Professor McGonagall read off her scroll. Tori Adams left the rest of the agents and carefully sat atop the three-legged stool. After about thirty seconds, the hat finally shouted, “Slytherin!” and the fourth year American student went to join her new classmates at the table to the far right. Gia Carrington, Mackenzie Douglas, and Hilary French all went to Gryffindor, as expected. Sarah Garrison became a Ravenclaw next, as did Wendy Kilmer. It didn’t take long for the sorting hat to place Cassidy Morgan in Slytherin, and then there were only two left.

“Lexi Ritzman.” Assassin looked at the last remaining agent and smiled slightly before she took her turn on the small stool. It took nearly a minute and a half for the hat to make its decision, apparently because she was arguing with it. Finally it hollered, “Gryffindor!” Eight jaws dropped open around the room; it was unfathomable that a girl who went by the name Assassin wouldn’t be in Slytherin. The decision had been made though, and she went off to join Thursday, Ruka, and Dragon at the table. This left one increasingly nervous Omega at the front of the room.

“Julianne Taylor.” Omega hesitated a moment before realizing it was her turn. Before she knew it, she was seated on the stool, the hat was over her eyes, and a small voice was whispering in her ear.

“Ah, the first is the last,” the hat whispered, tickling her ear. “I know of your journey and the task you must complete. The barriers are breaking down and the world as you know it will soon be ended, fallen to the forces of the written word. You must find a way to replace the dimensional walls and keep them from falling again. It is a huge task, yes, but do not fear, for there will be allies in your fight. A word of advice for you, as I have given to each of your comrades as well: Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. That being said, I must place you in…

“Slytherin!” the hat shouted. Omega froze. That couldn’t possibly be right. However, the hat was pulled from her head and she was ushered off to join Pixy and Kaiki at the Slytherin table. The younger agents both stared at her as she slid into the empty seat beside Kaiki.

“How did you wind up in Slytherin?” Pixy asked as food appeared on the table in front of them. The girls dug into heaps of chicken legs, piles of mashed potatoes, and mounds of freshly sautéed vegetables without a second thought as they talked. Omega shrugged.

“I dunno. How’d Assassin get into Gryffindor? The world may never know.”

“Americans, eh?” a new voice entered into the conversation. The three new Slytherins looked up to see a girl peering at them from the other side of the table. “My name is Caileen Flynn. I’m a fourth year.” Caileen brushed back her red curls and delicately picked up her fork. “You all must be purebloods, since you were put into our house.” The three agents exchanged glances again. That thought hadn’t occurred to them. “What were your names?”

“Tori Adams,” Pixy responded.

“Cassidy Morgan,” Kaiki introduced herself.

“Annie Taylor,” Omega replied after a moment’s hesitation.

“Annie?” Kaiki asked, turning to the older girl. “I thought they said you were Julianne.” Omega shrugged.

“I guess so, but I was always called Annie.”

“You guess so?” Caileen chimed in from across the table. Omega winced. She had forgotten the other girl was listening.

“It’s a long story.”

“Pi-I mean, Tori and I are also fourth years,” Kaiki hastily changed the subject. “What are the professors like?”

The meal passed quickly and as they headed off to bed, Omega managed to catch at least one girl from each house and whisper a message to her. Early the next morning the agents gathered on the front steps of the castle, shivering slightly in the chilly Scotland air. Overnight their uniforms had been switched and altered so that they were all clad in their house colors.

“The sorting hat said something weird to me and I thought we should all remind each other of our real names,” Omega began without any preamble. The other girls giggled.

“No ‘hi, how are you?’” Dragon asked with a grin. Omega made a face at her.

“Fine. Hi, how are you all? Did you sleep well? Are you making friends? Ok, now, the sorting hat told me that it told each of you something as well, so I figured we should put our clues together and see what we could find out.”

“I really think the sorting hat knows that we aren’t really supposed to be here,” Renn remarked. “It told me something about dimensional barriers breaking down, and having to complete a task. Oh, and something about imagination.” She pursed her lips thoughtfully for a second, trying to remember what the magic talking hat had said to her. “I think it said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.’”

“Hey, mine was about imagination too!” Thursday exclaimed. “‘Imagination sees what the eyes cannot see, hears what the ears cannot hear, and feels what the heart cannot feel.’”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ruka asked. Thursday shrugged.

“At least you guys got stuff that made sense,” Forty-Two piped up. “That darn hat told me that it’s a mistake to think you can solve any major problem just with potatoes.” Everyone stared at her. “Hey, don’t look at me like that! I even asked it to repeat itself, 'cause I thought I’d misheard it. Do you suppose maybe it means that potatoes will be part of the solution? But not the whole solution?”

“I was told that time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so,” Ruka spoke up.

“Reality can be beaten with enough imagination,” Pixy offered.

“Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality,” Assassin said.

“The best way to prevent the future is to invent it,” Kaiki said. She frowned. “No, wait. It was predict, not prevent. The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one,” Dragon recited.

“And I was told to go confidently in the direction of my dreams,” Omega finished, frowning. “Ok, we’ve got dreams, reality, imagination, illusions, time, and potatoes. Where does that get us?”

“I dunno, but I think it’s time for breakfast,” Forty-Two said. Ruka jumped to her feet.

“FOOOOOOD!” she bellowed, making for the front door.

“Hold on, hold on!” Omega cried. “I still don’t know who everyone is! Or was! Or is!” Her confusion was understandable; at the agency the girls had been forbidden to discuss their former names and where they had come from. Most of the agents had joined between the ages of nine and eleven, but due to circumstances, Omega had been at the agency since age five.

“Gia,” Thursday said.

“Lexi,” Assassin said.

“Sarah,” said Renn.

“Wendy,” said Forty-Two.

“Cassidy,” said Kaiki.

“Tori,” said Pixy.

“Mackenzie,” said Ruka.

“Hilary,” said Dragon.

“Ok, and I’m Annie,” Omega said, trying to keep all the new/old names straight. “Let’s go eat.”