The three chatterboxes got off the carriage, along with the silent Alice as soon as they arrived the castle. A balding, old man dressed in finery waited on the entrance, and soon the loud chatter of the three Hufflepuffs turned into hushed murmurings.

"It's the Headmaster!" Alice heard Martha scream in a whisper.

"What's he doing here? Was he waiting for us? Oh no! Did we do something wrong?" Flordeliza's panicked response worsened the worry of her peers, whilst Alice was merely curious.

"Good evening girls." The headmaster approached towards them and greeted them cheerfully.

Flordeliza was the one who greeted back the headmaster in a much cheerful tone while the other two murmured their greetings. "Good evening to you too Headmaster! To what do we owe this pleasure of meeting you here? We aren't in trouble, right?"

"No, no, Ms. Torres. Though I would appreciate if you strain yourself from making any future troubles. You're quite the troublemaker after all." Flordeliza gave a shy and awkward giggle, turning her head from the Headmaster and looked somewhere far off instead. The Headmaster's gaze turned from the Three Hufflepuffs to Alice who stood a bit distant from the rest of them. "Ms. Liddell. Lovely to finally meet you. I'm Headmaster Armando Dippet, and pardon for my intrusion girls, but I'd appreciate if Ms. Liddell would follow me. There are things to be discussed with our transferee."

'Oohh's were heard from the three of them and Alice obliged, nodding.

"See you later Alice!" She waved at the three of them and followed suit the Headmaster's strides.

"Ms. Liddell, I am terribly sorry for getting you into this mess." Alice wasn't able to see the Headmaster's face since she was following him from behind, but his voice sounded really apologetic.

"Why ever so, Headmaster Dippet?" She heard him sigh.

"We're approaching to my office soon. The other Head of the Houses will be there, so hold on to your questions."

And Alice did so. After the shopping trip, her mind was plagued with so many questions and her head hurted pondering all of it and trying to give all of the questions so many alternate guesses of an answer. Despite all the excitement and anticipation, uneasiness lied deep inside, and hopefully she will get answers of at least half of her thousands of questions. The castle was by far the biggest and most enchanting one she has ever seen, and she could feel the powerful magic it exudes. Soon they have arrived at the Headmaster's office, a quaint room with tall columns, high shelves of books, a grand desk amidst and probably hundreds of portraits hung on the wall. The office vibrated with much magic, and she was greeted by Dumbledore who sat amongst three unfamiliar faces in front of the desk.

"Alright everyone. Alice, take a seat." The Headmaster offered her a sit in the middle of them all, making her anxious as she sat down.

"Everyone, meet Alice Liddell." The Headmaster introduced her to the four of them, the three scrutinizing her whilst Dumbledore gave her a supportive smile.

"Ms. Liddell, each of these professors here are also head of the houses and are thoroughly involved with the decision making here in Hogwarts. You are here as a student due to their approvals." Alice remained impassive, only looking forward, particularly at no one. "This is Professor Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn, Head of Slytherin and also the Potions Master."

Professor Slughorn was a rotund man who offered his hand to Alice and genially shook it when she accepted it.

"On your right is the Head of Ravenclaw and also the Divination Professor, Professor Arsinoe Rosamund." Professor Rosamund is a young woman who looked like a refined ice beauty, acknowledging Alice with a curt nod.

"Professor William Rollo Selwyn, Head of Hufflepuff and an Astronomy Professor." The Astronomy Professor on the other hand seemed like your average professor, smiling at Alice in a friendly manner.

Her head immediately went to Dumbledore who smiled at her benignly and was introduced last. "And I believe you already had the delight of meeting Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Head of Gryffindor and Transfiguration Professor."

The Headmaster cleared his throat and sat straight up right with his clenched hands placed on the desk. The other professors sat straight too, yet still in their usual composure although a bit more business-like. "Now, I would like you to enjoy your stay here in Hogwarts, but jumping into 6th year with not much prior knowledge will be a difficult task. You have the right to leave Hogwarts."

Alice was irked. The Headmaster just dropped the fact without so much a tact. Her face scrunched in displeasure, and her hands fisted her dress. She knew there will be difficulties, but it wasn't her fault since she wasn't informed well to begin with. Dumbledore explained magic and the magical community, but the reason why she is in Hogwarts right now was left to question. "Then why am I summoned here? School supplies have already been bought and to top that, I've already met a few students in my year."

"Ms. Liddell, even though you have the right to leave, we were hoping that you would stay." The Headmaster sighed, and Alice kept silent, sensing he has a lot more to say. "At the age 11, you were supposed to be a 1st year student on 1867 here at Hogwarts, but your traumatized mind was beyond our current healer's abilities. We are terribly sorry, Ms. Liddell."

Alice grimaced, and tried her best not to show her contempt and disgust openly. Instead, her grimace morphed into a neutral expression and her voice blank.

"Why now?"

"Otherlands, Ms. Liddell. You can enter and even live inside a person's mind." That wasn't a surprising answer, in fact, she has suspected it since Dumbledore himself told her that only she could do it.

"But why? You all know magic that surpasses my ability of entering a person's wonderland."

"That's precisely the reason. We are many years ahead of you when it comes to the knowledge and experience of wielding magic, thus we also know that your ability is one of a kind."

Alice didn't know if she should feel special or used, because the situation she is in now makes her feel like she'll be ordered and taken advantage of, and that made her blood boil, making her spill words dripping with derision and sarcasm.

"Such poor persuasion ability. You think I just enter minds of other people for the fun of it? With all due respect, Headmaster, I am not a 16 year old. Of course I look like the part, but I have been living for almost 90 years. To think I was influenced and misguided by some hefty magical words and display. I've seen much interesting things inside a person's mind. This is trickery!"

Silence befell among them and Alice was growing angrier at every passing second of silence. Everyone noticed Alice's growing vexation, but it was Professor Rosamund who quickly acted and broke the awkward ice from the five of them. "May I explain in your stead, Headmaster?"

She was approved with a sigh and a nod. "You may do as you wish, Professor Rosamund."

"Ms. Liddell, I may not have been born by that time of your misfortune, but it is our fault for neglecting you. We didn't bother anymore seeing your decrepit mental state, and we thought the same when you were released from the asylum by the time you reached 16. It was a difficult decision to let you in Hogwarts when you didn't even know about Hogwarts at the age 16. You can't just skip ahead 6th year. You were supposed to be summer-schooled at least but the responsibility and risk of taking a demented person like you didn't seem worth it by the past administration. I am taking responsibility of your admittance here Ms. Liddell since I am at fault. I foresaw a possible future, and I've blabbered it first to the ministry instead of consulting the headmaster first."

"Rosamund-" Professor Selwyn and the Headmaster gasped, shaking their heads in disagreement. Alice however, appreciated the cold straightforwardness from Professor Rosamund, her apathetic expression returned as her anger simmered down.

"Don't blame yourself Arsinoe, you were born a Seer and it is in your future to be both a prophet and a witch." Dumbledore said and the three others agreed. "It was the fault of the previous administration and by extension, ours too. The ministry has approved of us taking action of Professor Rosamund's prophecy. You are here now Alice not only because of the prophecy, but also because we wanted to make it up to you. It was also Charles's last wish."

She felt a blow in her heart when he mentioned Charles. Her blank expression crumbled into a defeated and confused expression. It was heavy to take and hard to swallow, and she couldn't even chew the information because of its bitterness. It was beginning to be a lot easier if she thought of this as another situation in another Otherland, but the probability was a blur too.

"Ms. Liddell, we need your power to go to the Otherlands. We would have considered other means rather than you being a student here, but it's a student here that needs your help most, and you being a student seemed much likely than the other means we have come up with. Legilimency, or the ability to read minds, could only just read minds and explore memories. A memory charm could only erase and create memories. You however, can enter it, shape it, manipulate it, bend the subconscious to your will and you have used it to help others. That's why we need you." Professor Rosamund pleaded, but her sincerity mismatched her cold appearance and so her words sounded odd.

"Professor Rosamund, you make it sound like I'm so special. That I'm so gifted." Alice snorted, her brows arching in challenge. "Going to the Otherlands is no easy feat. I lose time whenever I go in. I could spend an entire week in someone's wonderland and I'd be actually losing a month or two in the real world. I've neglected myself just by going in, and I have lost dear friends because I couldn't entirely save their wonderlands. In the end, it is still their own minds, and it is their choice if they wanted themselves saved or doomed. I wish your judgement was a bit clearer. You chose to tell me all this the moment I've arrived Hogwarts? Have you considered telling me all this a week ago instead of now? This is such a hassle on both our ends. Not only will I be dealing about going in a student's wonderland, but also fitting in here. You realize the clear error of judgement in here?"

"Yes, we do. A series of unfortunate events happened and we couldn't take action immediately. We were planning to send you to summer school, but you were away. Instead, we chose to tell you all this now, and I sincerely apologize." The Headmaster hung his head low, whilst Alice just speculated them all with a defiant stare. Rosamund turned into steel ice, Slughorn grimaced, and Selwyn had a troubled expression while Dumbledore retained his observant gaze.

"Are you aware of the current World War 2 in your world?" It was Professor Slughorn who spoke.

Alice nodded.

"There is currently a conflict here the magical community, you might even say a war would break out in here if we couldn't contain it. From the prophecy foretold by Professor Rosamund, you might also be involved." Her eyes followed Slughorn's gaze towards to Rosamund, and then all four eyes focused to the Divination Professor.

"That is just one of the many other probabilities. No matter, the top priority right now is making Ms. Liddell fit in here, that is if she chooses to stay."

Alice took a deep breath, attempting to calm her nerves and clear her blurry mind.

"How do you people know Charles?"

"Charles Dodgson was a proud alma mater of Hogwarts. He was an excellent Ravenclaw who achieved his N.E.W.T.s, although he opted to continue his studies and worked with muggles. He later settled on Hogsmeade and taught Arithmancy here in Hogwarts." The Headmaster paused, leaving unsaid words hanging before continuing hesitantly. "He was the one who pleaded to have you here when you were released from the asylum, but you were still ill and you often disappeared. It was later on when we realized that you were travelling inside the minds of people. Charles still pleaded to have you atleast know about your wizarding heritage, he was also the one who helped figure out the prophecy and asked that you be educated in Hogwarts. Unfortunately.. He.. He passed away two months ago."

There was an uneasy silence, and Alice sighed in defeat. "I'm staying."

Everyone cheered and before anyone has got more to add with Alice's decision, Professor Selwyn hastily disrupted the relieved atmosphere. "Great! Hate to break it to you people, but we rather should move along. The sorting ceremony will be starting."

The hasty professor stood from his chair, but was stopped by Dumbledore.

"William, slow down. We still have ample time left. Ms. Liddell is yet to be sorted." The Headmaster nodded and stood from his seat, taking along the old, brown wizard hat.