Greetings. This is a story I've been working on since the beginning of December 2010, and finally feel ready to begin sharing. As a head's up, this story is a pseudo-crossover, combining the world and characters of the Professor Layton series with an AU version of the world of a certain very popular book series (whose identity I imagine you'll guess quite quickly). The characters and events of said books will NOT play a part in this story, as they never existed in this AU. Instead, they've been replaced entirely by the Layton cast and the events in my head. Whee.

Chapter 001 – Dreaming

Professor Hershel Layton stirred slightly in his sleep. He was having that dream again. He'd been having it more and more often lately.

At a glance, it made some sense - he was an instructor after all - so why shouldn't he dream about teaching from time to time? No, that was fine. If he took the time to think about it, he should sooner find it a concerning statement about his tendency towards overworking, but that wasn't what was bothering him right now.

With a slight adjustment of position, Layton fell once more into the depths of his recurrent nightly vision.

Soon enough, he found himself once more in that (now ironically familiar) unfamiliar classroom. The whole place felt archaic. Not that he was complaining - he'd made appreciation of the ancient his profession after all - but he couldn't help but notice how its construction and decor stood in stark contrast to his usual lecture space at Gressenheller University.

The students' "personal decor" stood in stark contrast to the norm as well. Gone were the usual personal fashion statements attempting to scream declarations of individuality to the world while conforming clingingly to societal fads. In their place sat an array of eager faces in matching uniforms, color-coded to represent each child's values and strengths.

He frowned inwardly. When he thought about it that way it reminded him of the misguided caste systems of history and fictional literature. However, there was nothing so sinister here - merely identification and pride in the four divisions that served as family while the students attended this strange school.

Why did he understand so much about this place and its organization? He'd never even heard of the institution prior to his dreams, let alone visited or taught there. Frustratingly, the name always faded each time he rejoined the real, waking world and he'd been unable to identify it thus far.

Trying to refocus on the present moment, he became aware of the strange sensation of having been viewing the scene from two different perspectives simultaneously. Definitely dreaming. The professor concentrated for a moment and felt his sense begin to root gently into a (primarily) first-person viewpoint.

"...-ill conclude the lecture for today. We still have some time left so I would like to open the floor for questions and discussion, " Hershel spoke with a soft smile. He surveyed the sea of faces before him with curiosity. A few had fallen deep in thought, seemingly searching for questions to ask. A few others (though reassuringly not too many) looked bored and kept sneaking glances at the old grandfather clock in the corner.

The professor allowed himself a small, amused smile as he laughed inwardly. There were always a few like them. It was an unwritten yet eternal law of the academic world, even in a class such as this all dressed in intellectual blue or hardworking yellow.

Finally, a young girl in the back of the room raised her hand hesitantly to address the teacher.

"Yes, Miss... Perri, was it?" The new school year always meant new names to learn, and he'd always made it a priority to do so as quickly as he could. Exceptionally quiet students like the girl in question tended to pose a bit more of a challenge.

The young lady blinked and nodded quickly with a shy smile before nerves regained control of her features. She avoided eye contact as she began to speak.

"Ah... Professor... Layton..." She seemed to be having second thoughts about speaking up. The professor chuckled lightly and smiled.

"Yes, my dear? You may feel free to ask whatever you wish. We are all here to learn, after all, and curiosity is essential to that function."

The girl processed his words for a moment before smiling embarrassedly and continuing with her query.

"Er, right. Sorry Professor. I was just wondering... I - we," she glanced around at her classmates. Layton got the feeling the next words he'd hear would be very familiar. To his amusement, this year's class had taken longer to broach the subject than usual.

"We've been hearing... r-rumors. The older students have been claiming you spend the summers living with... 'normal'... types. That you have a regular house like theirs... and spend time in their society. Is - is it true?"

Layton laughed gently and smiled. The flood would be coming with his next utterance.

"While the rumors always manage to greatly exaggerate the... oddities... of my chosen lifestyle, the basic gist of what you've said is, indeed, true."

Most of the class was staring intently at him now - even those who always seemed overly fond of the antique clock. On their faces were an intriguing mixture of emotions ranging from surprise and wonder to disturbance and confusion and non-envious awe. A short moment later and the questions were flying.

"W-what? Really?"

"How can you stand it?"

"How do you keep it secret from them?"

"Does that mean you use their money?"

"I-I heard you went to one of their colleges and pretended to be one of them!"

"Is your house electric?"

"Doesn't everything take forever?"

"Don't they find your wardrobe funny?"

The questions kept pouring out and Professor Layton calmly put his hands up to signal for quiet. His face held no sign of surprise at the sudden outburst but instead the calm acceptance of one who'd been through such an interrogation many times before. The class began to grow silent and stare in rapt attention for their instructor's reply.

"Well, let's see if I can't clear things up a little." He ticked off the questions he'd managed to make out in the chaos in his head, hoping his short-term memory was sufficient to remember most of them.

"Yes, I really do reside part-time in what would be considered most definitely one of their neighborhoods. I can stand it because - well, simply put, I grew up that way. It's actually rather... nostalgic at times."

He paused for a moment, an amused grin on his features as he contemplated the students before him and their average views of the world.

"Since some of you seem to have come to the wrong conclusion, I will tell you that no, I do not forsake our gifts. I may live in a 'mundane' house, but I don't add needless inconvenience to my life more than what is necessary in order to blend in with their society."

A number of students lost the concerned or confused expressions on their faces and seemed to relax, satisfied by the answer Layton had given. He noted the remaining perplexed stares and thought back to the prior barrage of queries.

"Hmm, let's see now. I believe someone asked if my home was 'electric'?" Out of the corner of his eye he noticed one student perk up slightly.

"That is a topic we will be covering later, so I understand your confusion. Houses themselves are not 'electric' but can be built with metal wiring in their walls that transport electricity like water through a pipe and allow it to be accessed for use."

The student apparently responsible for the question seemed to shrink a little in embarrassment over his error. Layton frowned.

"There is no reason to feel ashamed," he reassured with a gentle smile. "It is quite the common misconception. The whole reason this class exists to begin with is because our society in general does not tend to understand such things... with the rare exception of eccentrics like myself who throw ourselves head-first into their world for the 'fun' of it all."

The class began laughing at that and the professor offered an encouraging smile to the self-conscious boy, making eye contact while being careful not to draw the others' attention to the lad with his gaze.

"To answer your original question, which we seem to have gotten away from, I do indeed have access to - and use - electricity while living at that home. There are actually quite a variety of impressive devices out there which run on it, and I assure you we will be covering some rather intriguing examples later on this term."

Layton felt his mood lift as the boy seemed to regain his confidence and smiled thoughtfully. In the back of his mind, though, the professor felt uneasy. His words to the class flowed so easily forth with the same confidence that carried him through his archaeology lectures, but at the same time he realized he had no clue what he was talking about.

Yet apparently some part of him did.

It didn't make sense. He was also sure he was about to develop a bad headache from his confusion until he managed to recall that he was only dreaming. None of this has been real. None of it matters. He relaxed a bit and let that part of his mind drift.

Soon he found himself back in that strange dual-perspective mind state, viewing the scene unfold from both without and within his body. It was a strange experience indeed. He felt his concentration fading, his mind detaching from the world and events around him.

Even so, he continued with the class discussion, answering questions without missing a beat. Aware, alert, and attentive.

... Automatic?

Understanding slowly dawned. His role was shifting. No longer was he experiencing the strange dream. Now, he was merely watching, merely observing some sort of doppelgänger speaking nonsensically about "our world" and "theirs" ... whoever "they" were. The strange part was that it had all made sense when he was the one speaking those words.

Or had he really? Was that actually him, or was he just an observer even then? He tried to make sense of it all, only to find himself fading faster and darker.

Disclaimer: I own neither the characters nor the worlds depicted herein, but only the new way I've chosen to combine them and the story I tell.

-nazo!nin