It was still dark. Alice awoke before the sun rose. After a refreshing wash and a change of uniform, she left the dorm and wandered on the corridors in hopes of finding the library, but luck wasn't apparently on her side and with her tendency to be confused with directions, she got lost.

"Darn it." Alice sighed. Last night was noisy. Even after lights out, the four Gryffindor girls were having a blast with drinking some alcohol named Firewhiskey. They wanted Alice to join, but they consented when Alice said she was too tired, promising to join them another time. She was relieved that they were considerate of her despite their tiring persistence.

"Ack! Watch your way you buffoon!" A shrill voice underneath her screamed. Alice looked down and found an odd little man wearing wizarding clothes. She tried to help him up, but her hand was swatted away.

"I'm sorry mister. You were too short so I didn't see you."

"Short! Short!? How impudent of you, you giant freak!" The little man pushed Alice aside as he stomped off, unrelenting cussing spilled out from his mouth.

Alice had to swallow the laugh that threatened to sputter of her lips and instead followed after him. "I'm really sorry mister! I didn't mean to!"

"Stop following me you nincompoop!"

"I'm sorry! But please help me find the library!"

"Tch! Find it yourself!" The little man spat on the ground and shifted to the right, disappearing right into the wall. Alice tried to do the same but her forehead met a painful thud against the solid wall.

"Ouch." She pouted. She rubbed her forehead, trying to find another way in but was disappointed when she only saw a few weeds and plants that ignored her.

"If you can't let me in the wall, then at least help me find the library." She pleaded to the dandelion, but it merely shook its head and kept on ignoring her. "Ugh. Fine!'

"Fine what?" Alice jumped up, startled by the voice behind her. She turned around and saw Tom, ever so cool and composed.

"Good morning Tom." She saw Tom frowned a little, but went back to his usual cool expression.

"Good morning Alice. You're an early riser."

"Well, not on a daily basis though. What are you doing here?" Her head cocked to the side, her right brow arched up.

"I should be asking you that question. I told you before I was a prefect, and it's one of my duties to do daily patrolling. Students aren't allowed to go out their dormitories before the wake up call." Tom held himself tall as he reprimanded her, and it wasn't difficult since he was much taller than Alice. "I should be taking points away from Gryffindor, however, you are a transferee and you seemed like you weren't completely aware of the rules, so I'll let you off the hook."

Alice felt herself redden in shame and embarrassment. She facepalmed and sighed. "I'm really sorry. I was too tired last night to read the rules."

Tom chuckled, a charmingly adorable chuckle. "It's alright Alice. Why are you here anyway?"

"I was trying to find the library. Since I am a transferee, I was hoping I could hit the books early and learn a thing or two. I didn't want to lag behind too much."

"That's nice to hear. At least you know your priorities and isn't a clueless transferee." Tom gave her a teasing grin. "Although you are very much going the wrong way. The library is on the 3rd and 4th floor, and this is the 6th floor."

"Oh. I'm sorry." She sheepishly apologized.

"It's alright. It isn't surprising you'll get lost on your first day. Come on, I'll take you to the library."

"Thank you Tom."

The Slytherin Prefect lead the way down the library. Alice quietly observed his wide back that he held straight, his tall height a stark contrast to hers. The castle was infested with lively creatures, from the talking plants to animals that hurry off. Tom didn't pay attention to them, in fact, he was unbothered when a child bumped into him and kept walking. She realized and sighed. Her wonderland creatures are overlapping with Hogwarts. It will be very difficult to differentiate which is her imagination and which is an actual creature in the wizarding community.

Alice's eyes widened in awe at the sight of the library. The library is one of the grandest she has ever seen, and the fact it was a magical library made her all the more excited. Undoubtedly, just the sheer amount of books she could read overwhelmed her as well.

"Well, I'll leave you to your own devices. I still have prefect duties to do. Beware that you won't treat all books like you would with a normal one. Some books might bite and suck you in their own world. The librarian.. Might help you. I'll see you later."

"Really thank you, Tom. I'll see you later too."

Alice stared at Tom's retreating back for awhile before entering the library. She went to the desk and greeted the old lady sitting behind it.

"Good morning. I'm Alice Liddell, a transferee. Would you kindly guide me about the library?"

The librarian barely glanced at her, too engrossed in her work. She however handed Alice a pamphlet and Alice began reading it. Library rules were printed on the paper and although Alice expected a very intricate guide, the rules were almost the same as a normal library except for the obvious few ones. Alice read her Hogwarts guide and schedule and learned that her first subject was History of Magic and the class is held together with the Hufflepuffs. She searched for history books and picked a seat near the windows as she began reading. Time passed and after an hour or more so of reading, her stomach growled and called for breakfast. She placed the book down on one of the many unreturned piles of books and went out. While walking in the hallway, tracing her way back to her room, she bumped into a groggy Flordeliza.

"Alice, good morning! What a surprise to see you." The hufflepuff girl tried to greet cheerily, but ended up yawning mid-sentence. She rubbed her eyes and blinked several times, her eyes wide open as she stared at Alice. "Sorry to stare, but my vision is still a bit blurry and I'm trying to clear it."

"It's alright. Good morning to you too Flordeliza."

"Oh hun, you can just call me Flor. We're friends now afterall, aren't we?"

"Of course." Alice replied Flordeliza's huge grin with a smile. Their stomachs growled loudly at the same time, and both laughed.

"We should head down to the hall now. We're both starving." Alice nodded and followed Flordeliza down, glad that she didn't have to go back to the dorm to ask for the other girl's help.

"Oh.. Oh!" Flordeliza suddenly stopped and looked straight at Alice. "I almost forgot! I've been dying to ask since yesterday. I thought you were a muggleborn!"

"Ssh!" Alice shushed Flordeliza and quickly tugged her along the side of the hallway.

Flordeliza realized she shouldn't have half-screamed the muggleborn part and so proceeded in a hushed tone. "Dumbledore said you were homeschooled in magic, but you didn't say anything about that yesterday. You said you haven't ever heard of the magical community."

"Uh.. Look." Alice sighed. She never really her "magical heritage" to be a secret, but it was what the teachers wanted. However, she has told a bit of herself to Flordeliza, and frankly, she just doesn't see what kind of trouble she is in by just being open about it. "This is supposed to be a secret so.. Will you promise me you won't tell anyone?"

"What.. Why? There's nothing to be ashamed of! Don't tell me that not even the teachers know?"

"I'll tell you if you promise to keep this a secret." Alice squeezed Flordeliza's hand and looked at her straight in the eye. Flordeliza recognized her seriousness and nodded.

"Alright. I may be a huge chatterbox, but I do my best in keeping secrets. I promise."

"Thank you." Alice sighed in relief and looked around. One or two students passed every now and then.

"Oh. I'll cast a spell. No one would be able to hear what we talk about." Flordeliza smiled and casted a muffliatto charm. Alice leaned back against the wall, on the lookout for any incoming students just to make sure and Flordeliza did the same. "It was the teachers who asked me to disclose the information about my heritage."

"But why? Are they afraid you'd face discrimination? Pfft. If they are, they should actually do something about those who bully the muggleborns."

"No, no. It's probably because my grandfather was apparently a pureblood who was disowned and had discontinued the Liddell's pureblood heritage. I don't know about my parents though. My dad never displayed any magical abilities. He went to a non magical school and got a non magical job as a non magical professor. However, he and grandfather were the only people that encouraged my magical fantasies."

"Oh.. So the part where your parents is dead, is true then?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Flordeliza turned to Alice with a look of sympathy. Alice's face was blank, and seemed to be contemplating. Flordeliza wasn't that good at reading expressions, however, she was good at going with her gut feeling and guessing things.

"It's alright."

There was a short silence between them, and after much contemplation, Flordeliza spoke. "But.. How can you be in 6th year if you've never known about the magical world? So the part that you're homeschooled is true then?"

"Not at all. In fact, I'm as clueless as the first year muggleborns."

"Oh Merlin. That's horrible." Flordeliza stared at Alice with much confusion and disbelief. "Then.. Excuse me, but why are you in Hogwarts?"

Alice was about to answer her question when students began to emerge more often, all heading for breakfast. "I don't know exactly why I'm here either. Let's continue this when we have time later. I hope you can keep this a secret."

"I promise! Let's go. We're starving." Flordeliza smiled kindly and held Alice's hand all the way to the great hall. They both waved goodbye as they head to their own respective tables, leaving Flordeliza filled with intrigue and Alice with exasperation on how much truth she can reveal to an acquaintance.

"Alice! Good morning! You were out early. You beat me and Lorna from being the early risers of the dorm. What time did you wake up?" Isla cheerily greeted Alice as she ate her breakfast. All the others were eating breakfast. Madison is eating with her boyfriend, Vivian eating quietly, Zinnia however was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't know. It was still dark out when I woke up. I'm not very good at sleeping." She gingerly placed small but filling enough food on her plate, not wanting to seem too gluttonous even if she really feels so. She'll add in more food later.

"So early! Where were you then? We didn't see you lounging on the common room." Lorna asked.

"I was at the library. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to walk around the school before wake time, so a prefect reprimanded me. He let me go to the library though."

"Oh! He! Whose house's prefect scolded you then?" The twins giggled and grinned widely, teasing Alice.

"Slytherin." By then, both the twins high pitched giggling exploded as they looked at Alice with much excitement.

"Don't tell me it's Riddle? Merlin! You are so lucky!"

"I'm so jealous! Isla, we better wake up earlier now."

"We did that a lot in the past couple of years. We can't play the "I'm lost" card anymore. Especially since we abused it too much."

"Ugh. Such a shame. He's just so dreamy." Lorna dreamily sighed. "Don't you agree Alice?"

"Oh, uhm.. Yes. He's a kind and friendly person." Alice smiled curtly at the twins, happiness blossoming inside her with being able to eat a scrumptious and filling meal after so long.

"That's just two of the endless great qualities he has." The twins both sighed dreamily and everyone continued with eating their breakfast. The bell rang, signalling the end of breakfast and start of the morning classes. Everyone began going to their respective classes, and Alice just followed her dorm mates, with Madison rejoining the twins. Zinnia woke up and ate breakfast late, while Vivian finished her meal fast and went ahead to the class first. Alice took a seat not too far from the front together with her new friends. She looked at the Hufflepuff's side of the room and saw Flordeliza busy chatting with her friends. Flordeliza noticed Alice and gave her a wave, while both Martha and Therese smiled at her.