1 CHAPTER ONE - The Giant and the Boy

Attuoria felt like she had been spinning for an eternity.

Was it really that hard to make me human? She thought to herself.

Finally, the vortex ended. Attuoria fell, slowly and gently, down into the mortal realm.

Then all of a sudden, it was no longer gentle.

Attuoria found herself outside a shack. Sharp droplets of water hit her overly sensitive skin, drenching her from head to toe immediately. She stood on two feet, the wet, hard rocks jutting into her bare soles.

The wind screamed around her. Strong hands of air pushed her towards the shack, knocking her off balance as she stumbled forward. She landed on her hands and knees, and the sharp rocks scraped her skin. Small traces of red liquid began oozing out from her palms. Attuoria stared at it curiously, ignoring the stinging feeling under her hands.

All of a sudden, the door to the shack swung open in front of her, revealing a large man with an overly large tangle of dark hair and beard.

Attuoria watched as the man - giant, she thought - threw a bird up into the air, letting it flap away against the harsh wind.

He was just about to turn back around when he spotted her. She was soaked by the rain, gripping tightly on the rocks with her two hands. An odd black material was wrapped around her body, and it fluttered behind her with the wind, almost like two long, translucent wings.

"Ye alrigh' there?" The giant yelled gruffly over the bellowing thunder.

Attuoria shook her head as a sign of "no", hoping he would be able to see this small movement.

Thankfully, it worked, and the man trudged over to her and picked her up as if she weighed nothing.

"How on Earth did yeh even get 'ere?" The giant grumbled, bringing her into the shack.

Attuoria shook her head again. He closed the door and sat her down onto the couch. A fire flared in front of her, giving off heat which made her stinging skin feel much better.

"Um, Hagrid," A voice spoke, and Attuoria's gaze immediately snapped over to a scrawny young boy with messy jet black hair and piercing green eyes that were hidden behind a pair of round glasses. He looked to be around eleven years old.

Attuoria observed the boy curiously. She felt the weight of a fabric over her shoulders, and realised that the giant had just covered her up with some blankets.

"Rest up, keep yerself warm." He said, patting her on the back and causing her to jolt forwards on impact.

"Hagrid, who's this?" The boy with black hair asked again, staring at Attuoria. She stared back at him.

"Dunno, found her outside, all cold an' stuff. Seems to be in shock. It's alrigh', let 'er warm up a bit. Now, where was I?" said Hagrid.

"He's not going," A voice came up from the other side of the room.

Attuoria turned her head around to see that there were three other people in the room: A big, beefy man with a stubby neck and a red face, a thin blonde woman with an unusually long neck, and a smaller but still rather large child with blonde hair like the woman, and a large round body (and lack of neck) just like the man. The child also seemed to look around eleven or twelve years old.

"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," Hagrid responded with a grunt, his loud voice making Attuoria jump slightly. His sentence immediately brought confusion to her mind.

Muggle? What's a muggle? Attuoria thought to herself, staring curiously at the giant bearded man.

The scrawny boy seemed to share her confusion, as he asked, "A what?"

"A Muggle," said Hagrid. "It's what we call non-magic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."

Magic? Magic is real?

Attuoria felt a little dizzy.

Humans are split into magic and non-magic folk?

She started hearing a high-pitched buzzing noise near her ear.

I thought magic was just human folklore, I thought -

Through her muddled thoughts, she heard shrieks and yells and words like "wizard" and "you knew" and "car crash" before her senses were overloaded and her mind went blank.

Hagrid's loud speech against the thin woman ended right as Attuoria fell onto the floor with a thump. Hagrid sighed heavily. "Place her by the fire won't you, Harry."

The boy with black hair nodded and dragged the girl over so that she lay right in front of the fire. Once she was in place, Harry turned back to Hagrid, and they continued their conversation.

***

"A passage between the mortal and spiritual dimension..."

Attuoria stirred in her sleep.

"Place yourself within the mind of a human..."

The words were etched in her mind. No matter how hard she squeezed her eyes shut, it wouldn't disappear.

"Transported to the mortal realm..."

She could see it, it was right in front of her.

"I invite you to come and join me in a discussion about the future of humans..."

Her eyes were closed. It was dark.

Glowing green letters flashed before her eyes:

"T. M. R."

Attuoria jerked awake, shooting upright. A blanket fell off of her shoulders.

That was the message. The invitation.

"I have established a passage between the mortal and spiritual dimension. By placing yourself within the mind of a human who is at rest, you will be transported to the mortal realm when they wake. I invite you to come and join me in a discussion about the future of humans. -T.M.R."

This message was sent to her eleven years ago. It shouldn't have bothered her at all, but for some reason, it haunted her every single day.

She thought that she would finally be free from the message once she arrived in the mortal realm. But her mind wouldn't let it go. The glowing green message in her head pulsed brighter than ever, as if excited to finally be where it should've been eleven years ago.

Attuoria sighed. She knew, deep down, that she wanted to visit the mortal realm. This was her dream come true. No matter how hard she tried to persuade herself that her duties were more important, this was where she wanted to be.

Dim rays of light shot through the gaps of the walls and windows of the broken old shack, lighting up the room with a warm morning hue. The room smelled like a mix of firewood and the salty ocean spray.

Attuoria inhaled deeply, feeling the cool air enter through her nostrils. What a feeling it was to smell.

She looked around the shack and saw the dark haired boy sleeping next to her, covered by the giant's large coat. His glasses were lopsided on his face, his expression peaceful with a hint of a smile.

The giant was spread out on the couch, which had collapsed under his weight. The other three people were nowhere to be found.

Attuoria's thoughts drifted to the events that happened last night. She had fallen unconscious at some point during their loud conversations, and she could only remember a few words: muggle, magic, and wizard.

Just then, she heard a boy's voice.

"It was a dream, I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes, I'll be home in my cupboard."

She looked over at the boy sleeping next to her. He was still asleep. But he was... speaking? She bent down slightly to stare at his face. His mouth was closed. He wasn't speaking.

But I clearly heard his voice, Attuoria thought to herself, confused.

Suddenly, there was a loud tapping noise coming from the window. Attuoria looked over and spotted an owl rapping its claw on the window, holding something in its beak. It looked like the bird she saw the giant throw into the sky during yesterday's storm.

"And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door," the boy's voice said again with a sigh. "I don't wanna wake up. That was such a good dream."

The tapping continued, but Attuoria was more bothered by how the boy could speak without opening his mouth.

"That wasn't a dream." She blurted out, surprised at her own voice. It was a smooth, sharp sound. Slightly high pitched, but gentle at the same time.

"Alright, I know," he mumbled, still drowsy from sleep. "It was all a dream, I'm getting up." This time, his mouth moved when he said "alright" and "I'm getting up", but didn't move for the other two phrases.

"I told you," Attuoria said again. "That wasn't a dream."

The boy's eyes shot open, sitting up as the large coat fell off of him. "What?" He said, eyes wide with alarm as he stared at the girl.

"You spoke." said Attuoria, staring into his piercing green eyes through the lens of his broken glasses.

"I didn't say anything," the boy responded quickly.

"You said, 'Alright, I know, it was all a dream, I'm getting up.'" Attuoria said, staring back at him, meeting his gaze.

"No," The boy said, a suspicious look on his face. "I said, 'Alright, I'm getting up.'"

"No, you said-"

The boy stood up, cutting her off as he scrambled over to the window. He jerked it open and the owl flew into the room. It swooped straight over to Hagrid, dropped a roll of paper on top of him, then flew over to Attuoria, dropped a piece of paper in her hands, and then landed on the coat, pecking and scratching at it.

"Don't do that," he said to the owl, trying to wave it away, but it snapped at him once before returning to the coat.

Attuoria stared at the paper in her hands. It read:

Ms ᚨᛏᛏᚢᛟᚱᛁᚨ

The Floor

Hut-on-the-Rock

The Sea

She stared at the unfamiliar characters after "Ms". What were those symbols? It definitely wasn't English. Could it be her name? But Attuoria hadn't come up with a human identity yet. She didn't even have a human name.

I've been human for barely a day, how could someone possibly write me a letter, and know that I exist? She thought to herself. Wait. Unless it was -

"Hagrid!" The boy said loudly. "There's an owl!"

"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.

"What?"

"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."

Attuoria watched as the boy dug through the many pockets of Hagrid's coat, a look of confusion on his face before finally pulling out a handful of shiny coins.

"Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.

"Knuts?" The boy asked.

"The little bronze ones."

Attuoria frowned. Those aren't nuts. They're coins. Maybe he's just too sleepy to realise. She watched the boy count out five of the bronze coins and put it into a pouch on the owl's leg. Then it flew away out of the window.

Hagrid yawned loudly, then sat up and stretched, the broken couch creaking underneath him.

"Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school." He grabbed the newspaper in his hands before realising there was another piece of paper. Attuoria watched as he frowned, opened it quickly and scanned through it.

"Oh." He said, his gaze moving over to Attuoria, who was also staring at him. "Well Dumbledore says yer comin' with us. Yer gonna be a first year. What's yer name by the way?"

Attuoria froze. She knew someone was bound to ask for her name, but she didn't think it would be so soon. Her mouth dropped open but she didn't know what to say. Hagrid looked down at the paper when she didn't respond.

"Oh, you're not from 'ere. Do ye at least know English?"

Attuoria gulped, swallowing a mouthful of saliva that had built up in her mouth. She quickly nodded.

Wow, humans produce saliva and have to constantly swallow it? That's annoying, she thought to herself.

"Alrigh' then, let's be off." Hagrid said, folding up the paper and stuffing it into a coat pocket. He stood up after putting on his boot, and swung the coat over his shoulders.

As he was getting ready, Harry asked him something about money. Apparently, he had a whole Goblin bank account full of money left by his parents. Attuoria realised that she did not have any money. At all. No normal human money, and no magic money.

"Got everythin'? Come on, then." Hagrid was about to leave before Attuoria finally spoke to the giant for the first time.

"I don't have money, either." She said, once again surprised by her voice. She wasn't used to this speaking language. Back in the spiritual dimensions, everyone simply used mind-connections.

"That's fine. Dumbledore'll tell 'em to give yeh a loan." Hagrid said with a shrug, beckoning her to follow him and Harry out onto the rock.

Attuoria quickly pushed herself off the ground, standing on her two feet. Already, she felt more accustomed to this new human body, and was much more balanced than yesterday.

She took a step forward, and to her surprise, walking came naturally to her. Maybe her human body came with pre-wired knowledge on how to physically act human.

"Hagrid, she doesn't have shoes." Harry said, pointing at Attuoria's bare feet. Hagrid turned back around, glanced at her feet and scanned the room.

"Aha," He said, pointing at a pair of slippers next to the couch. "Take those o'er there."

Attuoria put those on and followed the two of them out of the hut. The sky was clear now and the sea was glistening under the sun. There was no hint of the raging thunderstorm from the day before.

A boat was bobbing up and down with the gentle ocean waves at the side of the rock, filled slightly with water.

"How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around.

"Flew," said Hagrid.

"Flew?" Harry and Attuoria exclaimed at the same time, looking at each other briefly before returning their gaze to Hagrid.

"Yeah- but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh. Seems a shame ter row, though. If I was ter - er - speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not metionin' it at Hogwarts?" Hagrid asked the two kids.

"Of course not," said Harry, while Attuoria just nodded her head.

What's Hogwarts? She thought to herself. Hog warts? Hog, as in the pig? Warts, as in those greenish things that grow on human skin? Hog warts sounds disgusting.

They got into the boat, which miraculously started moving on its own after Hagrid tapped the side of the boat with a pink umbrella.

No, there's no way he's talking about pig warts, she thought.

"Wait," Attuoria spoke as they sped off. "What's Hogwarts?"

"Ah yes, forgot yeh passed out durin' that part. It's a magic school. Dumbledore said to bring ye along with us 'cause yer a witch or somethin'." Hagrid explained.

"Does that have to do anything with this?" Attuoria asked, raising up the letter the owl had given her.

"Oh that's yer letter. It includes the school supplies yeh need an' stuff."

Attuoria ripped open the envelope and unfolded the first piece of paper inside. It was a quick letter informing her of her place at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and that the term starts on September 1st.

She had landed in the mortal realm this morning at around 12:01am. Today was July 31st. There was precisely a month before she would head off to this magic school.

As her body swayed back and forth from the bumpy waves, she remembered the glowing message again. The message from "T.M.R". That was the reason she even came down to the mortal realm in the first place.

Transporting a message through another human's dream was not something a normal human could've done. "T.M.R." definitely possessed magic. Attuoria was on the right track. An ancient magic school was exactly what she needed to discover who "T.M.R." was.

Just then, the boat bumped gently onto land. The three of them clambered up the stone steps and onto a street. Attuoria marvelled at the world around her, the crowds of people and buildings alongside the roads. There were cars, sounds, lights, everything.

People stared at the trio as they walked. Hagrid, for his size and loud comments about "Muggles", which Attuoria deduced to be a word similar to "non-magic folk". Passer-bys also stared at Attuoria, whose black gown was floating in the air, and fluttered at the smallest movement. The oddest part was the pair of blue rubber slippers on her feet. It was a freak show.

They walked for a while, boarding a train with the help of Harry's knowledge on "muggle money". The train was to London, and Attuoria couldn't help but wonder if she was going to solve the mysterious identity of "T.M.R." soon.

The message originated from London, so that meant "T.M.R." was probably in London as well. However, it has been eleven years since he sent the message, so it was possible that he moved out of London already.

Attuoria couldn't help but think of all the possibilities: Was "T.M.R." going to show up and take her to their meeting? Did he already know she was here? Was that why the headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore, knew of her existence? Could Dumbledore be related to "T.M.R."?

On the train, Hagrid told Harry and Attuoria to open up the letter and check for what they needed to buy. It was quite a long list, filled with items that Attuoria found to be very random. The ones that stood out to her the most were "protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)", "The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble", and "wand".

As well as the fact that she could own an owl, cat, or a toad.

"Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud, asking the exact question in Attuoria's mind.

"If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.

Attuoria glanced at him.

"Wait till they see Diagon Alley," Attuoria heard Hagrid's voice say, but his mouth didn't move. She was about to ask him what "Diagon Alley" was, but decided better once she remembered how confused and suspicious Harry got when she heard him talk without actually opening his mouth.