Back Into Time: Collecting

# Part One

## Prologue

When I was born, I had a Mom and a Dad. That was short-lived. My very own beautiful Mom left me. My mom had cancer so it was a slim chance she would survive. My dad told me this. Before he left me too. When Mom had me, Dad said that I had been ready to take on the world. Turned out my mom wasn’t. No matter how hard she fought. Because she passed away an hour after she had me. I still have my mom’s long black hair and big hazel eyes. I don’t even remember my mom but in pictures, she is beautiful. My dad was devastated when she died and decided that he couldn’t take care of me. Honestly, sometimes I hate my dad for leaving me. For leaving his only daughter.

He still calls me on my birthday and tells me I’m special. But if I was special enough, maybe he would have kept me anyway. Instead, I lost both of my parents. And I got sent away. I got sent to Oklahoma to have a fresh start. Me; Violet Olive Xhardas. When I went to Oklahoma, I also went to live with a family called the Carters. I then became part of the Carter family. I began to feel at home with my new family. My new dad, Jaison, and my new mom, Ida, and even with my two new sisters, Brooklyn who was a year older than me, and Alexis who was three years old when she met me. One day, when I was nine, I had asked Mom why I looked different than everyone else in the family.

“Oh, babe,” Ida said. “Sweetie, you have two Mamas and two Daddies. Daddy and I adopted you when you were a baby because your Mama passed away and your old Daddy couldn't take care of you,” she explained.

I don’t look like the others with their pale skin and blue eyes. Alexis and Dad both have brown hair the color of chocolate and Mom and Brook have golden-colored hair. I even got a pet once I turned ten. Brook, Lexi, and I chose a little mini schnauzer and decided to name him Alexander, after our favorite musical, Hamilton, which we had seen a month ago. Even though I don’t look like the Carters and even though I am not genetically related to them, doesn't mean I don’t love them. They were the ones that chose me; Violet Olive Xhardas-Carters. In this first story, I am twelve, Brooklyn is thirteen, and Alexis is fifteen. This isn’t just the story of my life. This is the story of how I became more than special. I became *magical*.

## Chapter One

This morning when I wake up, it is a busy Monday. I stretch widely and slip out of my bed. In my room (which I redecorated last summer), my walls are a pale lavender color, and the body of the bed is a smooth pale wood. On the bed is the usual teal bedspread, coral-colored pillows, and assorted Beanie Boo stuffed animals. My white nightstand stands next to my bed and has two floral bookmarks, a glass of water, a white lamp, and the first Hunger Games book on it. The drawers are full of random makeup containers and old bottles. My dresser is stuffed closed with clothes and my closet bulges with crafts. On my floor are dirty laundry and a fluffy white carpet.

I open the door and walk down the stairs stretching my hand across the huge ocean mural as a climb. Downstairs, Brooklyn and Alexis are also awake and seeing Alexis dressed means that Mom and Dad are probably at work already. Brooklyn doesn’t look up from her Lumberjanes book and cheerios but Alexis smiles and digs into her grits. I *hate* Grits and grab a bowl of cheerios like Brooklyn instead. I pour in some oat milk and as I sit I poke Brooklyn.

“Hey, Brookie,” I say.

Brooklyn nods but doesn’t look up from her book and I settle for grabbing my teal phone off of the charger. Mom and Dad have a strict, ‘No phones after ten o’clock p.m.’ rule and I oblige just for the sake of it. I open up Snapchat and get rid of all my notifications on it since the little bubbles that pop up stress me out. I take a pic of my cheerios and add a glowing bubble around it writing, “My breakfast today” underneath. I post it to my story so only my friends can see it. I spend the next fifteen minutes watching videos on life hacks that I’m too lazy to actually do. I put my dishes in the sink and walk back upstairs.

In my room, I slip on a top with dark blue shorts and throw on my lucky gold bracelet. I quickly brush my hair and then brush my teeth as well. Twenty minutes later, Brooklyn, Alexis, and I walk to the bus stop. When it pulls up, I climb in and sit at my usual spot next to my best friend. The one and only, Givianna Ardeck Ledaus-Reezah. Givianna has been my best friend since 4th grade. Givianna’s parents are divorced so she understands me and gets where I’m coming from. Gii has long dark hair, cinnamon-colored skin, and is very pretty.

“Hey, Gii!” I say, calling Givianna by her nickname.

“Hi, Vi!” she replies. I’ve always loved that our nicknames rhyme; Gii and Vi.

Brooklyn walks off to sit with her friend Maddison and Alexis sits with Peyton, Jada, and Jazmine. Givianna and I chat and power through a horrible seven hours of school before climbing back onto the bus together and talk spiritedly about the upcoming Fall Fest Dance at school.

Once we’re seated, Gii pulls out her phone and says, “Here. This is my dress.”

In the picture, a red and gold kimono-like top flows down. The bodice and sleeves are an orangey-gold color and the ruffles at the end are red chiffon. The skirt is long and flowy the color of deep red and has swirls of gold all over it. The skirt has a split in the middle which shows Gii’s tan legs poking out; her feet covered in beige sandals. Her hair is down and flowing and there is a little headpiece with three feathers, the middle one gold and the outer two orange-colored.

“Gii,” I say, “It’s so beautiful!”

“I know, right!?! I love it!” Gii says excitedly.

Alexis looks over my shoulder and does a double-take. “Violet is right, Gii. It’s awesome!” Alexis says.

“I know!” I say. “Do you guys wanna see mine?” I ask and Gii nods.

I too pull out my phone and pull up the picture of me wearing my dress and show it to Gii, Alexis, and now Brooklyn too. The dress is long, fitted, and shiny green/blue like a mermaid tail but at the end poofs out and layers of green tulle puff out underneath. On my arms are attachable pieces that drape off of my arm like seaweed except they are blue/green too and are a thin tulle.

“Awesome!” says Gii and Brooklyn nod quietly.

“Okay. Mine next, then Brookie!” says Alexis.

Alexis shows us a dress the color of bubblegum and is big and poofy with a pale white sash and her hair in curls. Definitely Alexis. Brooklyn quickly shows her dress before our stop. Her dress is a teal color and the top is a crop top and the bottom is a pretty puffed-out skirt with a green-blue crystal tiara. Simple but pretty, like Brookie. The bus screeches to a stop and we all climb out and Alexis unlocks the door. We head inside and when they hear us, Mom and Dad come downstairs. I’m surprised they’re already home since they both work at office jobs and normally don't get home until around five-thirty. Mom comes over to me carrying a small silver box.

Dad gestures everyone including Gii into the living room. I plop onto the couch next to Gii and put my dog Alexander on my lap. “Your father sent this and said to give it to you,” Mom explains.

So, something from Old Dad. I always got a birthday present from him but nothing else and I’m not turning thirteen for three months. I gently take the box and say, “Uh, thanks,” and smile.

I stand up and Alexander jumps off my lap and over to Dad. Brooklyn, Alexis, Gii, and I head up to my room and I examine the box as thoughts race through my head. *Why this old box? Why send it to me now? What is the meaning of the box?*

Gii brings me back to reality by mock-jumping onto my shoulder and saying excitedly, “Well, are you gonna open it?”

Her excitement reaches me and something bubbles up like a coke bottle that someone shook up. I lift the gold clasp and see a lock. “Huh?” asks Alexis.

“It seems to be locked!” exclaims Brooklyn.

I feel disappointed. The fizzing stops and so does my excitement. *I have the box, but where’s the key?* I think to myself. Then a memory makes the fizzing blow up again.

When I jump up, Gii asks, “What’re you doing?”

I don't answer and open one of the drawers with random stuff in it and dig through it. Then, I find what I’m looking for. I triumphantly pull out an old silver key with the words, *Kendra Xhardas* scrawled across it. My old Mom’s name.

“What’s that?” Brooklyn asks.

“My old dad gave it to me last year!” I explain excitedly. “He sent it with a note saying I would want it later but it didn’t make sense so I chucked it in there.” I indicate to the nightstand drawer.

“Yesssss!” Gii says.

I use the key to open the gold lock and I hesitate for a moment before lifting the lid. A starry galaxy swirls and sparkles inside of the box and suddenly I feel an itching pull to see where the galaxy in the box leads.

“It’s a portal!” Alexis exclaims.

“We, in this world, I mean, are merely unimportant specks of dust compared to the whole ginormous world that lays beyond the boundaries we have set,” says Brooklyn.

“What?” I ask. Brooklyn sometimes says random things like this that barely make sense.

“Well, are we going to actually *go see* it?!?” asks Gii, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

I nod. “On three,” I say, “one… two… three!”

We all stick our hands into the box and suddenly I feel a sensation like being stretched out like a rubber band before I am falling through a hole of the endless sky like a rabbit hole in *Alice In Wonderland*. We reappear in an alleyway and we all stop to catch our breath.

“WHAT.” Alexis says, “JUST. HAPPENED?”

“I think… we just traveled through *time*,” I say.

“How though?” Brooklyn inquiries.

“It was the box-portal-thingy. *Duh*,” Givianna says and rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, but where *are* we?” asks Alexis.

I feel a ripple of excitement. This place reminds me of a place I have only ever read about in books. “I think we're at the entryway to Diagon Alley,” I say.

←↑→

I’m still in awe. My head keeps screaming, *YOU ARE IN DIAGON ALLEY! THE REAL DIAGON ALLEY!!!!* I look around at the different shops. I can even see the looming shadow of Knockturn Alley peeking out of a corner up ahead. Alexis is repeatedly opening and closing the silver box trying to find the portal which has somehow disappeared.

“Violet, you try!” she exclaims and hands me the box. I open it, and amazingly, I see a small scroll. I grin.

“It must be somehow programmed to respond specifically only to your DNA!” says Brooklyn.

I pull out the scroll and carefully open it without damaging the beautiful intricately designed seal. I read it out loud.

“*Dear Violet. I have given you the pieces to get to this point. You must be at least twelve or thirteen by now. I have created this portal to different dimensions from different books. No matter how much time you spend in a world, no time will have passed back on Earth. Throughout each journey, you will need to find a specific object. Your first mission is to find the Mirror of Erised, seeing as you are in the first Harry Potter book.*”

I look back up at Gii, Brooklyn, and Alexis in shock.

“So your dad is magical?” Alexis asks.

“I- I guess we find the mirror,” I reply.

“Uh, how? I’ve read Harry Potter and the Mirror is in *Hogwarts*. *Not* Diagon Alley.” Brooklyn says.

“I know, but we have to try,” I say.

“Should we like, take the Express?”

“Probably,” I say.

“Well then, onward to Hogwarts!” Gii shouts.

## Chapter Two

We sit on the Express, each of us looking around in awe. This is the Hogwarts Express. *The* Hogwarts Express. Not to mention the fact that *the* Harry Potter is sitting in a train car with *the* Ronald Weasley. Yeah, I’m a huge Potternerd.

“Yo, Vi, focus,” Gii says, waving her hand in front of my face.

I jump up and down in my seat and do a little squeal. “But, Gii, it’s *Harry Potter*!!! Like, *the* Harry Potter!!!”

I watch Harry look over at me quizzically, and I look away quickly, my face flushing. Brooklyn laughs. “Vi, you are just too much,” she snorts.

“Whatever. Back to business,” Alexis says. “We need to find this mirror.”

“Annnnd how’re we supposed to do that?” Gii asks.

“Well, Harry finds it by wandering around the castle, so after we sneak into Hogwarts, we could always do that,” I reply.

“Sounds good. And we have our wands?” Brooklyn asks.

I nod. The wands had appeared in the box after I had finished reading the message along with uniforms for all of us. All of us are Ravenclaws, judging by the blue and silver scarves. I bite my lip so that I don’t squeal again as Hermione Granger walks into Harry and Ron’s compartment.

“The biggest thing is, *don’t* interact with the main characters. No matter how much you want to.” Brooklyn glances at me. “If we do, it could ruin *everything*,” she finishes.

I sigh. Then I nod. “We need to get the mirror and get home,” I say.

“Well, we’re about to be at Hogwarts!” Gii says.

I look up and see the huge castle drawing closer. I lean forward excitedly as the train slows to a stop. I jump up and travel through the flurry of returning Ravenclaws around us. Gii and I are supposedly Second Years, Brookie is a Third Year, and Alexis is a Fifth Year. We follow the other Ravenclaws into the castle but separate as soon as we’re inside. No one notices us— no one even knows us— as we disappear.

“Hey!” someone says behind us. It’s a female voice.

“Run,” I hissed. We run down the corridor and turn the corner, heading straight into the girls’ bathroom. I suck in breaths as the four of us pant, leaning against the sinks and walls.

“I think we lost them—” I start.

“No, you didn’t,” A sharp British voice says behind me. I whip around and face the girl who was chasing us. I don’t recognize her from any of the books. She looks about thirteen or fourteen with white skin, brown eyes, and straight black hair.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asks. She’s a Ravenclaw, too and she’s staring at me with a piercing gaze. She reminds me of Hermione, in a way. It’s not Cho Chang, but she looks similar to her, except not Asian.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“I’m Eliza— Eliza Lang.” She replies, holding out her hand. “And I’ll ask you again— what are you doing?”

“Why is it your business?” Gii counters.

“Why do you have the right to sneak off?” Eliza retorts.

“Why did you follow us?” Brooklyn asks.

“Because I think you four are like me,” Eliza says slightly mysteriously.

“How so?” Brooklyn asks, with a quizzical expression.

“Are you also not from here?” Eliza asks, lowering her voice.

“What… Do you mean?” I ask slowly.

“Did you come here accidentally?” Eliza reiterates.

“Did you?” Alexis retorts.

“So we’re back to this game,” Eliza says, rolling her eyes. “Yes, I did. I got sucked up here through a portal in a mirror.”

I gape. *We* got sucked here through a *portal*!

“Your turn,” Eliza says, looking expectantly.

“We got sucked here through a portal in a box,” I answer.

Eliza sucks in a breath, showing the slightest bit of emotion on her face— an expression that I can’t even seem to read. “Well, how did you get the box?” she asks.

“My dad,” I say simply, not wanting to reveal too much.

“So your dad is one of the Collectors?” Eliza asks.

“One of the whats?” I repeat.

“You mean you don’t know?”

“No?” I answer.

“Well,” Eliza says. “The Collectors are a small group of people who have found how to get to alternate dimensions. I found out a few months ago about the organization and have been trying to find a portal. I finally did and it brought me here. The problem is, I now have to collect the item from this era. Do you know what it is?” she finishes.

“We do…” I start.

“Then we need to go find it! What is it?” Eliza asks.

I glance at the others. Brooklyn steps forward. “We’re in the first Harry Potter book and we need to find the Mirror of Erised.”

Eliza nods. “So what *were* you four doing?”

“We were sneaking off to find it. Duh,” Alexis says, eyeing Eliza suspiciously.

“Hmm,” Eliza says. “How many of you are Potternerds? Like, *big* Potternerds?”

“Me,” I say. “I’m the biggest one out of the four of us.”

“Then are you thinking what I’m thinking when I say we need to find a room that will give us what we want?” Eliza asks. I think for a second.

“The Room of Requirement!” I shout. Eliza smiles and nods. I remember the Room of Requirement from the fifth book of Harry Potter.

“I don’t know for certain that it will work, but we can see,” Eliza says.

“We might as well try,” Gii says.

“Well then, let's go!” Brookie shouts.

We run out of the bathroom, only to run into someone else. I look up in surprise at the girl. It’s a Hufflepuff with a Prefect badge, blue eyes, olive-toned skin, and curly, dark brown hair. “Ack!” she screams.

“Sorry!” I say.

“It’s no problem,” she says, brushing off her skirt.

“I guess you guys are a friend group or something? One of you needs to go to the bathroom and *all* of you go together?” she asks with a slight smile.

“Yeah,” I lie, laughing too. She steps back and looks at us.

“All Ravenclaws? Let me guess,” she says.

“Fifth Years?” she asks Eliza and Alexis. They nod.

“Third Year?” she says, turning to Brooklyn. She nods too.

“And you two are Second Years?” she asks Gii and I.

“Yup,” I say.

“Well, I have to use the bathroom anyway, but since you actually *cared* that you ran into me, fifteen points to Ravenclaw.” The girl smiles.

“Thank you! Oh, I never got your name,” I add.

“I’m Veronica,” she smiles. “Bye then!”

“Bye!” Gii smiles as we walk away. The second we’re down towards the end of the corridor I let out a breath and Gii leans on my shoulder.

“That was *close*. Too close.” Eliza says, still with that quizzical expression on her face.

“Well, we need to keep going,” Alexis says.

“Agreed. Where do we go to that room or whatever?” Gii asks.

“Follow us,” I say, and I grab Eliza’s hand. She looks slightly surprised so I let go.

“It’s fine,” she says.

“Okay…?”

I wonder what made her react like that. I shake off the thought and run forwards. Up to the seventh floor and down the right corridor. I walk back and forth between a patch of wall three times all the way thinking, *I need the Mirror of Erised. I need the Mirror of Erised. I need the Mirror of Erised.* The others— except Eliza— all stare at me confusedly until a door finally appears on the wall. Eliza smiles. She opens the door and we look inside to see the room. But it doesn’t contain the intricately designed mirror that I would recognize anywhere. Instead, the room is filled with mirrors. Thousands of them.