A Muggle at Hogwarts

Sitting on the couch, my blue eyes gazed to the flickering TV screen. Various images flashed before me, and none remotely interesting.

“Honestly,” I groaned while turning off the TV. “I wish I could just be somewhere else, instead of waiting for this letter…”

I fell back on the couch and threw my arms over my eyes. I could feel the warm rays of the sun beaming through the windows. An image of a golden beach began to form in my head, and I swore I could almost smell of saltiness of the ocean.

Suddenly, the calmness of the moment was broken by the loud growling of my stomach. With a heavy sigh, I dragged myself off the couch and heading into the kitchen. I knew exactly what I would find when I opened the fridge door, but still, I opened it.

As predicted, the fridge was nearly empty, but for some ingredients to make mac and cheese. But having lived off mac and cheese for the last few days, I couldn’t stand the thought of having to eat it for another meal.

I closed the door and headed towards the garage. Grabbing my keys, I got into my car and headed out for an overdue grocery trip.

* * *

As I drove back home with my grocery, my mind raced with all the food I was going to make for myself. But as I continued to drive, I noticed a large truck coming into view. There were multiple broken vehicles stacked on top each other, wrapped tightly with heavy, silver chains.

I kept my distance from the truck and was so thankful my exit was coming up. Suddenly, without warning, a convertible squeezes in between the truck and me.

“What the hell?” I scoffed as I pulled back.

A loud clanking noise caught my attention, and just as I looked past the convertible, everything began to slow. A rusty blue car came flying off the top of the truck towards the convertible and me. Without thinking, I twisted the steering wheel and veered off the road. I heard the screeching of tires and then a loud crushing metal sound before something white accelerated towards my face.

Ow… I thought. My eyebrows scrunched together as I rolled my head to the side. I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear low mumbling in the background.

“I think she’s waking up,” a voice exclaimed.
Who’s there?

I wanted to open my eyes, but everything just felt so heavy. Raising my hand up to break away the crust that glued my eyes shut. It didn’t feel like I was in control of my body, but I could feel my muscle fibers ripping apart with every movement.

“She looks like she’s in pain,” a male commented.

“Are you alright?” the first voice questioned.

My eyes slowly opened, though everything was a complete blur. Someone helped me to get up, but I regretted this immediately. A shock-like pain raced through my body, and I had to lean back against the headboard to keep myself up.

“Um...h-hello there,” someone greeted.

I turned my attention to the person, and was immediately in loss of words. A moment of silence filled as I tried to comprehend what was going on.

“No, no, no, no, no!” I stuttered as I jumped out of bed and paced back and forth across the dimly lit room. “This is–this is not happening. This can’t be–ouch!” I exclaimed as I stubbed my toe on a suitcase on the floor.

“She’s American!” Ron pointed out, just as a thin girl with long red hair came running into the room.

“What’s going on?” the red-headed girl asked.

Seeing her only heightened the confusion I was feeling. “No way...t-this has to be a dream. It just has to be!” I shook my head and continued to pace around the room mumbling my thoughts.

“Afraid not,” replied the the girl with wavy brown hair as she hesitantly took a step around the bed I was laying in. She glanced back at the three teenagers beside her as she assured me that I’m safe. “Everything’s going to be alright.”

“Uh, no,” I laughed nervously. “It’s really not. I’m losing my mind. That’s the only explanation as to why Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron and Ginny Weasley are standing in front of me.”

Harry and the other looked at each other and exchanged confused glances. I could tell from the look on Ron’s face that he thought I was crazy, and I didn’t blame him. I was crazy. This was crazy.

“What’s your name?” Harry asked.

“Violet Bell,” I replied.

“And how do you know us?” chimed in Ginny. “Don’t believe we’ve met before.”

“Because your fictional characters from a book! That’s why this is all insane!” I crouched the ground and buried my face in my hand.

“Great, we saved a looney,” whispered Ron.

“Her head was bleeding when we found her, Ron. She obviously must have hit it and have some kind of—”

I shot up and interrupted Ginny. “But you are characters! You’re not real people! None of this is real.”

Hermione scrunched her eyebrows together, and a mixture of anger and confusion washed over her face. “What in the world are you saying? We helped you and you go and say these illogical and—”

I let out a frustrated groan, taking everyone by surprise. “How do I make this simpler for you to understand?” I looked the four of them up and down before saying, “You look around...what? Sixteenish? Fifteen for Ginny. You guys attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is the Burrow, home of the Weasley family, where Harry always seems to find himself before the start of the school year.”

“Blood hell,” Ron gasped, “she knows everything about us.”

“That’s not everything there is about us,” Ginny said while narrowing her eyes at her brother.

“You let the Basilisk out of the Chamber of Secrets during your first year at Hogwarts because Lucious Malfoy slipped Tom Riddle’s diary into your basket. You’re currently a part of Dumbledore’s Army and going out with Dean Thomas, even though you’re secretly in love with Harry.” I turned to Ron and continued before anyone could get a sound out. “Ronald Weasley. You’re afraid of spiders because Fred and George turned your teddy bear into a giant spider. They also caused you to eat Acid Pop, burning a hole through your tongue, and nearly made you make an Unbreakable Vow, which your father wasn’t too fond of, to say the very least.

“Hermione Granger. Your parents are dentists. They had wanted you to wear braces instead of magically fixing your teeth, though Madam Pomfrey’s spell made that quite unnecessary. In your third year, you and Harry used the Time Turner to save Sirius Black—Harry’s godfather—and Buckbeak from being killed, while Ron was in the Hospital Wing. When it comes to relationships—”

“A-alright! I think that’s enough!” Hermione quickly interrupted with a reddening face.

“Hold on!” said Ron. “I want to hear what she has to say about Harry.”
Harry locked eyes with me—a bit of curiosity sparkling in his eyes.

“Harry Potter…” I began, “son of James and Lily Potter. You’re living with your Aunt Petunia and her husband and son—Vernon and Dudley. You’ve gone through a lot this past year… You’re filled with anger and confusion and…” I paused, “...you just...really need someone who understands you and will listen to you, right now.”

“She really does know all about us,” Ginny gasped with widen eyes.

Ron’s eyebrows scrunched together as he turned to her. “Does that mean you fancy Harry?”

Harry immediately turned and looked at Ginny, and her face nearly turned as red as her face as she looked back and forth from Harry to her brother, not knowing what to say. Thankfully for her, Hermione came to the rescue.

“You fell through a Universal Portal, didn’t you?”

“A what?” Harry, Ron and I asked in unision.

“A Universal Portal—it connects different worlds to each other, correct?” Ginny asked. “Aren’t those incredibly rare?”

“They are, which makes this even more remarkable!” Hermione exclaimed as she began pacing around the room. “I—I can’t believe this! I’ve read about these before, but I never actually thought they existed.”

“What exactly are these portals?” I asked.

“Universal Portals are scattered around the world. They’re sort of magical gateways that links different worlds to each other. In our case, the portal links our world to Violet’s—one in which we exists only as fictional characters from a book!”

“I need to sit down…” I whispered.

“It’s a lot to take in, I know,” Hermione began, but was interrupted by Harry, who rushed past her and to my side.

“Are you okay?” asked Harry as he caught me.

I nodded my head. “My legs feel weak…”

“You’ve been asleep for almost a week, so that’s probably why,” Ginny explained. “It must have been the adrenaline of it all that’s kept you standing.”

“We should probably get her some food,” suggested Ron. “Mum should almost be done cooking.”

I leaned onto Harry for support as we headed out the tiny room and down the wooden staircase. As we entered the kitchen, the rest of the Weasley family could be found gathering at the table. As the group of us approached, the room fell silent and everyone turned to look at us.

“Hi,” I shyly whispered. “I’m Violet Bell. T—thank you for helping me, Mrs. and Mr. Weasley.”

Mr. Weasley smiled. “Think nothing of it. How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good. Legs are just a bit wobbly, but I think I’ll be okay.”

“Oh! Let me pull out a chair for you!” Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as she hurried around the table. Harry walked me to the chair and I slid into the seat.

“Thank you,” I smiled.

Harry gave me a nervous nod before taking a seat across from me.

“Now,” Mrs. Weasley placed a plate in front of me and began scooping food onto my plate, “you eat up and get your energy back! Don’t be shy, you hear me?” She then welcomed everyone else to the table, and the food was quickly divided onto everybody’s plates.

“So,” Mr. Weasley asked from the head of the table, “where are you from, Violet?”

“Well, minus the whole Universal Portal situation, I’m from the United States.”

“Really? What are the magic schools like in the States?”

“Oh, I didn’t attend any magical school—”

Hermione chimed in. “You attend Muggle schools?”

A spark appeared in Mr. Weasley’s eyes. Unconsciously, he pushed his plate aside and leaned himself forward. “Really? What’s it like?”

“I think you’re misunderstanding,” I cut in. “You see, I’m a Muggle.”

Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing when these words came out of my mouth. Ron’s mouth hung open while everyone else exchanged glances.

Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat. “Ronald Weasley, close you mouth.”

“You—you’re a Muggle?” Mr. Weasley managed to stutter.

“Yes. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to mislead you in any way. And if this is going to get you in trouble with the Ministry, I completely understand if you don’t want me staying here. I’m sure—”

“We’re not going to kick you out, Violet,” Mrs. Weasley reassured. “It’s just—well, I don’t quite know. It’s—”

“Astonishing!” Mr. Weasley finished. “So, what’s your world like? Is there any magic at all?”

“Not really. More like illusions, I guess you can say. Nothing compared to what you guys can do,” I replied.

The smile from Mr. Weasley’s face only widened as he leaned back in his seat. He stared across the table at Mrs. Weasley. “This is simply remarkable, Molly. Can you believe it? A Muggle, here, at our table!”

I couldn’t help but smile at Mr. Weasley’s enthusiasm, and soon the entire room was in chattering away.