Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I'd Trade Places with for 24 Hours

This topic raises two questions. First, do I get to be the character, with all their skills and understanding, or am I just myself living where they live and hanging out with their friends? Second, which 24 hours do I trade with them? Frankly, some of the days in even comparatively pleasant novels can be terrifying...

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Since there don't seem to be any rules, and since I'm not the adventurous sort, I think I'll specify a non-exciting ordinary-day type of situation. Regarding the first question, I'll treat it like an exchange student program—but since I'm stepping into these characters' worlds, I get some of their magic. It's only fair.

1. Any random Hogwarts student, preferably a Hufflepuff so I get to actually hang out in my common room and sleep in the tunnel dorms. I want to go to Charms class and Transfiguration and Astronomy, and I even think Potions would be interesting. I could never live up to the expectations of Ginny or Hermione, so I wouldn't dare just trade with either, but if I got to actually become a character, I'd go for Ginny. It would be interesting to find out what physical bravery feels like, not to mention having six brothers. (The Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling)

2. Lucy Pevensie. Just give me a quiet day at Cair Paravel, out by the sea, with a few friendly talking animals—and if I got to see Aslan, that would be the greatest. (The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis)

3. Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee. I want to speak to the wind and the birds and a horse... it would be hard to come away from that, though. (The Goose Girl, Shannon Hale)

4. I'd like to say Maria Merryweather, but I'll need to be reduced to her size if I am going to fit in her turret bedroom or ride her pony. I may have a drop of fairy blood in my ancestry, but it seems a giant got mixed in there somewhere, too. (The Little White Horse, Elizabeth Goudge)

5. Kilmeny Gordon, provided I have her talent for the violin. That's a sort of magic, right? For 24 hours, I'd gladly give up the ability to speak for that gift. Also, I'd like to hang out in that old orchard. (Kilmeny of the Orchard, L.M. Montgomery)

6. Meggie Folchart. The Inkworld is a little scary, but overall I think I'd like it, provided my day there can be post-Capricorn, Adderhead, Orpheus, and Magpie. Farid might annoy me, but I think Doria and I would be good friends. (The Inkworld books, Cornelia Funke)

7. Princess Celie. I'd just enjoy hanging out with Castle Glower for a day. (Tuesdays at the Castle, Jessica Day George)

8. Percy Jackson. Annabeth can show me around Camp Half-Blood, and I'd definitely be up for being able to breathe underwater and ride a Pegasus I could talk to (even if he did talk back like a mob boss). (The Percy Jackson and the Olympians books, Rick Riordan)

9. Mary Lennox. I just want a day in her garden, and spending part of it with Dickon and his animals would be great, too. (The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett)

10. Matilda—Dante's, not Dahl's. Can I be the pretty, singing, flower-picking girl in the terrestrial Paradise, who leads purified souls through the great rivers in which the sinner forgets his sin and remembers his good deeds and joys? That would be the ideal job for me. (Purgatorio, Dante)

I'm not sure whether any of these characters would want to trade with me, though. The Hufflepuff would be bored, as would Maria, and Matilda would feel desperately out of place. Kilmeny and Celie would probably be frightened. Isi would be baffled by my devotion to the computer (but then she'd find the bookshelves and be just fine.)

Meggie might be all right; she'd just spend all day reading. Lucy would conscientiously do anything on my to-do list, be sweet to all my loved ones, and amuse herself with garden or books or walking in the quiet hours. Percy would probably like a calm day in Bellingham, as long as he got to keep his ability to breathe underwater. Mary Lennox would have plenty to occupy her, and she's certainly one of the few characters I'd trust with my garden.

Who would you trade with for a day?