I wish you the best of luck Miss Ives, and it would do good to remember that the truth is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with caution.
Kind regards,
A.P.W.B.D
A.P.W.B.D could only be one person, and Cora realised who that was straight away. It was a huge shock to find herself on a bench in what she thought was a fictional world. But it was an even greater shock to receive a letter from a supposed fictional character, especially if that character was Albus Dumbledore.
Her mind was going haywire. It was so loud, so many different thoughts, so many questions, so many worries.
How did she end up here? How did Dumbledore know about her? Why is it that he knew where and when she showed up? What's going to happen to her mother? Dumbledore mentioned a wand and the sorting, does this really mean that she's a witch? Has she officially gone insane?
She didn't think that it was the time nor place for her to lose her shit, so for now she was going to pretend everything that was happening was very very normal. The last thing she needed right now was to really realise that she had completely drifted into insanity.
She's in London, today is September the first, 1994, according to Dumbledore. This is the year of the Triwizard Tournament, and the year Voldemort returns. This is the year of Cedric Diggory's murder.
If Cora chose to take on the mission that Dumbledore assigned her, Cedric Diggory's life must be the first one she must save. She has absolutely no problem doing whatever she could to save the people who she saw as her chosen family, even if they were completely unaware of her existence. What she did have a problem with was Dumbledore himself.
Cora isn't a fan of Hogwarts' current headmaster. He might be a great wizard, but he is also a master manipulator. He did it back in the Marauders' era when he recruited them into the order while they were still teenagers, and he then put the weight of the world on Harry's shoulders. She understood that he did what he thought was necessary for the greater good, but she did not and will never forgive him for putting Harry in an abusive household, then sending him on a dangerous mission with nothing but riddles to help him.
She understood that he thought it was the best way to ensure that Lily Potter's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain, but he was Albus Dumbledore for Merlin's sake! If he wanted Harry's family to treat him well, she believed that he had the power to ensure that happens. If Voldemort himself was afraid of him, Vernon Dursley could be too. He did talk to them about it in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, but Harry was 16, it was too late.
Cora is fourteen. Dumbledore was already sending her on a huge mission at only fourteen. She's going to do it of course, she's going to save all those who deserve to be saved. But she will do it because she chose to, not because Dumbledore asked her to. She would have done it anyway, with or without Dumbledore's request.
She could have a nervous breakdown about the absolute absurdity of her current situation later, but right now she had a train to catch.
With a newfound sense of determination on her mind, she grabbed onto the handle of the trolley and pushed it to the barrier between platforms nine and ten. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, then walked quickly through the barrier.
Maybe walking through a solid barrier wouldn't have been the smartest idea if it hadn't worked. But as Cora found herself standing in front of a scarlet steam engine, she made a silent promise to herself to never doubt anything written in fantasy books ever again.
Cora despised crying, let alone in public. But when she really took in her current situation, when the realisation of her whereabouts really sunk in, she made an exception. This is real. She's going to Hogwarts. She's going Home.
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