Title - When You're Strange.
Chapter title - Freak.
Author - OblivionsGarden.
Genre - Romance/Friendship/Drama/Fantasy.
Disclaimer - I do not own the Harry Potter, books or films, in anyway shape or form. I only own the plot points surrounding my oc's, not recognized from the books or films. For this chapter I own, Malorie Talbot, Miss Fox, Scott Carrol, Karen Carrol and Terry Birch.
Chapter Word Count - 2948 words.
Summary - Malorie Talbot grew up in a muggle world thinking she was a freak, no one important. But little did she know that she was special to the friends she was about to make at Hogwarts. She was special to Sirius Black. Not that he'd ever tell her that.
A/n - I've been planning this story for a week or so now and I have pages and pages of notes and plot points so I've finally decided to take the plunge and write the first chapter. Sirius is my favorite Marauder, obviously, and I couldn't not write him with an oc, so along came this story.
It will follow through their journey at school and if all goes according to plan, right on till after Harry's war with Voldemort. Some things that happen in the books may change but not many. The fic title is from the song People Are Strange by The Doors.
Anyway, enough rambling from me, I hope you enjoy!
Please read and review, I'd greatly appreciate it. Hope you enjoy, xx (:
Being called a freak is never an easy thing to deal with, whether you are a fully grown adult or just a child. But being a child with no one to turn to, it is exceptionally harder. Being a ten year old child who spent all of her spare time alone, Malorie Talbot knew better than anyone just how hard it can be to be called a freak. And it wasn't just the other children at school that used that word to hurt her, no, she had heard the very same one falling from the lips of her parents. Not her biological parents of course, they had died a long time ago, but the couple that had adopted Malorie at just seven months old. She had heard them say that word in hushed conversations in the kitchen when they thought she was in bed.
And the worst part of this was that Malorie didn't blame them, not one bit. Most of the time she actually agreed with their assumptions of her. She too thought of herself as a freak. She hadn't for a long time. She didn't know that her hair was changing colour before she could even walk. She didn't know that she had made her eyes go purple one afternoon. She didn't know. Not until she was a little older and had been running away from some school bullies. She'd hidden in the girls toilets, panting with fear and exhaustion when she'd heard voices coming from the hall. Before she realized what was happening she was staring up at her bullies from the floor, no taller than an inch. The other girls took one look at her and screamed, running to tell the teacher there was a mouse in the bathroom. It wasn't until she got home that she realized she had been that mouse. She didn't know how she'd done it and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't for the life of her do it again. But she did know that no one else could do it. And she knew that that made her a freak.
Her adoptive parents, Scott and Karen Carrol, thought maybe it would be something that would fade with time, as Malorie grew older she'd grow more... Normal. And for the most part they believed they had been right. Malorie kept her disorder, as she'd come to call it, hidden from the world. Occasionally when she was scared she'd slip up finding herself altering her appearance without even realizing it. But most of the time she was a normal girl.
Scott and Karen never grew more fond of her though. When they adopted a daughter they had been hoping for a bright young lady who would speak only when spoken to, do everything she was told and expected of her, and would follow in Karen's footsteps to being a smart business woman. Malorie however did none of these things. She was bright for her age but not in a way that pleased her adoptive parents. They wanted her to excel in school which she did, but with the amount of detentions and fights she had gotten in they would hardly call themselves proud. Malorie only did her chores when threatened with being sent back to the children's home. She might not have liked living with the Carrol's but anywhere was better than that children's home. Malorie let people know what she was thinking, unless it was something she wanted to keep secret, and as for becoming a business woman, well Malorie had her eyes on the more creative side of things. She wanted to write and paint and sing. She didn't know how she would make that a career but she was determined that she would. Somehow.
At school she had separated herself from others. At first this had been unintentional but soon she meant to be alone. She liked her own company finding that other kids her age didn't care about much other than playing and 'what time is lunch?' Malorie used her free time to indulge herself in her creative nature and her vivid imagination. She like to write adventurous stories and paint the pictures to go with them. And she so loved to sing. And luckily, after months and months of pleading with the Carrol's, they had bought her an old second hand guitar. She had to use what little money she had saved up from past birthdays to have it re-stringed but she was beginning to get the hang of it.
There was a music teacher at school called Miss Fox. She had long black hair with the fringe cut short, shining green eyes and was always dressed in long sleeved tops, floor length skirts and laced up boots. Her hands and neck were always adorned with lots of silver jewellery and Malorie always thought she looked like a witch. She had taken to teaching Malorie how to play her guitar and she was the only person in the world that didn't look at Malorie as though she were a... Well, a freak.
It wasn't until the 1st of May 1971 that Malorie came to find that she just might not be as much of an outsider as she thought she was. She awoke in the morning with a smile on her face for a change. She had just turned 11 years old and that meant that in just four months she would be moving to secondary school. Secondary school was something she had been looking forward to, knowing it would only be five years before she could then go on to college or to a job. She could finally start building towards her future away from Scott and Karen.
She dressed that morning in her favorite denim, bell bottomed dungarees, a black and white striped long sleeved top and her well worn red Nike Bruin's. She still marveled at the fact she even owned a pair of Nike's. Scott and Karen, whilst less than thrilled with Malorie's behavior didn't want the neighbors to think their daughter was scruffy and unkempt. Not that the brands they got her made any difference to her outwards appearance, not to the neighbors at least. No one really took the time to actually look at Malorie, except for Miss Fox. Her dark brown hair, only a few shades lighter than black, hung in slight waves all tangled together reaching just past her shoulders. Sometimes she attempted to brush it but when she felt the pain of the brush tugging against the hairs on her scalp she gave it up as a bad job. And besides, the messier her hair the more annoyed the Carrol's got. And annoying the Carrol's was Malorie's, she was pleased to say, proudest achievement. She'd gotten it down to an art.
The house was expectedly empty when she arrived in the kitchen to make herself breakfast. Both Scott and Karen had early morning starts for work and so Malorie had come to rely on herself. She made herself a bowl of cereal and climbed up onto a stool at the breakfast table where the morning post lay untouched. She did her usual routine of sorting the mail into piles for each recipient, only stopping when she came across the first letter she'd ever seen with her name on it.
Miss M. Talbot.
The Attic Bedroom.
26 Aintree Way.
Stevenage.
Hertfordshire.
The envelope was sealed with purple wax and Malorie noted she never thought she'd be so excited about a letter. Disregarding her fast turning to mush cereal she tore the envelope open and pulled out the contents. In green writing across the top of the letter was written:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY.
Malorie squinted her eyes wondering if this was some sort of pathetic joke from someone at school. Regardless she continued reading.
Dear Miss Talbot,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. Someone will be along to inform your parents of our world and to make all the necessary arrangements today. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress.
There was no way this was from someone at school, this was too cleverly written. Malorie scoffed as she scanned over the required equipment. Whoever had sent this was going to receive a nice hard kick in the shins when she found them.
She hid the letter from Scott and Karen, not wanting to give them yet another excuse to lecture her about how important being normal was. She stuffed it into her pillow case and returned to the dining room for dinner. They were almost done eating when there was a knock at the door.
"Malorie, answer the door." Karen didn't look up from her plate as she uttered the instructions.
"Why? It's not for me."
"Just go and answer the door."
Scott reiterated the task and this time Malorie, without hiding the groan and dragging of her feet, went to answer the door. However her attitude soon changed when she found the visitor was Mrs Fox.
"Hello Malorie, are you well?"
"I guess so." The young girl stepped back to let her teacher into the house. Miss Fox had already moved into the dining room before she could even shut the front door.
"Mr and Mrs Carroll, nice to see you." Miss Fox made herself comfortable in one of the dining room chairs. "I expect you're just dying to know all about Hogwarts."
"I'm sorry?" Karen managed to cover the shock of the women's intrusion of her home to form a coherent sentence.
"Hogwarts. Little Malorie has been accepted."
"I haven't told them." Malorie spoke from the doorway. "I assumed it was a joke."
"Told us what?"
Malorie moved back to her seat opposite where Miss Fox had chosen to sit. This was going to be a very long and very uncomfortable conversation. Not only was it completely ridiculous, it was so far off the scale of normal that she was half certain Karen might have a heart attack. Every cloud...
"I got a letter this morning from a place called Hogwarts." She began, chewing on her lower lip. "It's a school for... Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Scott Barked out a laugh. "Don't be ridiculous there's no such thing." He turned to look at Miss Fox. "Really, I'd expect better from a teacher than to encourage this kind of behavior."
"Hogwarts is very real Mr Carrol, don't you doubt it." Miss Fox's usual, airy voice suddenly became very cold and icy. "Malorie Talbot will be attending, since she is a witch."
"Sorry Miss but I don't think I am."
"Do you think turning into a mouse is normal, Malorie?" She smiled. "Do you think making those paint pots explode in Terry Birch's face was an accident?"
"Well, no but I-"
"You are a witch, Malorie. A muggle born witch."
Malorie broke away from the conversation Miss Fox was now having with her adoptive parents. Her mind was reeling. Could the reason behind all the strange things in her life be down to her being a witch.
"What's a muggle?"
"Non magic folk."
"Oh."
So her parents hadn't been magic, so how could she be. She shook her tread in a failed attempt to organize her thoughts, only looking up to ask another question.
"Are you a witch?"
"No dear, I'm a squib." Miss Fox smiled again, warmth radiating only to Malorie. Each time the woman looked at either adult only a frosty disposition reached them.
"What's that?"
"It means my parents are magical but I am not."
"Oh."
Oh. That seemed to be the only thing she could say. What else could she say? I'm a witch, you say. Well that's just great let me go and pack ready to go off to this school I've never heard of and might no even exist. Malorie didn't know what to do. She'd grown up with the Carrol's trying to hide every last bit of her that might cause concern. She learned to hide things well and to bring everything out into the open now seemed like a foolish move.
"Wait." Miss Fox and the Carrol's stared at the little girl. "How do I know any of this is real? I could be dreaming right now." She bit her lip, feeling a little spark of hope deep in her heart that it was real. "How can I be a witch if my parents were... Muggles?"
"You don't have to come from a magical family for magic to run through your veins Malorie. The same as I don't have to come from a muggle family to be without it." She smiled and reached into the pocket of her long velvet black overcoat.
The item she pulled out was a card. No bigger than Malorie's palm as she pulled it closer to inspect. The writing on the back read:
Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts.
Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicholas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.
"Professor Dumbledore is the Headmaster." Miss Fox beamed. "Turn it over."
Malorie did as the woman said, finding the image of an old man with long white hair and beard staring back at her over half moon glasses. She blinked a few times when she thought he smiled at her before sure enough she watched him raise a hand and put something small and yellow into his mouth.
"Sherbert lemons." Miss Fox said. "He's quite fond of muggle sweets."
"But the picture-"
"Moved. Wait till you see Hogwarts."
"She won't be seeing Hogwarts because there is no such bloody thing."
"Mister Carrol I suggest you calm yourself."
"You're going to tell me to calm down in my own home, how dare you!" Scott was up from his chair now, fists clenched by his side.
"Malorie, please go to your room whilst I try and talk some sense into these two." Seeing Malorie's worried expression she pulled something else from her pocket. A striped box with 'Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans' emblazoned on the front. "I'd stay away from the pale yellow ones, I've heard they can be vomit flavoured."
Wide eyed and curiosity flared, Malorie took the box and hurried away upstairs. She didn't go to her room, just to the landing where she could just make out snippets of the conversation. She resigned herself to knowing there was no way she'd be attending any sort of magical school, not whilst Scott and Karen had any say in the matter. Sighing, she picked a jelly bean from the packet and eyed it warily. It was a pinkish sort of colour and hoping for the best she popped it into her mouth and began to chew. With a wrinkled nose she spat the bean across the carpet, attempting to wipe the taste of salmon from her tongue. Giggling lightly, she tried a few more finding, grape, cheese, tuna, blueberry jam and coconut.
Before she could try a pale yellow to see whether or not Miss Fox had been telling the truth about a vomit flavoured bean, the woman in question was climbing the stairs. She sat on the top step at an angle so that she could rest her back on the wall.
"I'm not going am I?" Malorie couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice.
"Do you really think the conversation would be over if they hadn't agreed?" Miss Fox chuckled, reaching forward and pulling a bean from the box. "Ah, horse radish."
Malorie pulled a face before smiling a little. "So, I'm really going to Hogwarts?"
"Of course. You get to come home at Christmas and for the summer." She leaned forward again, to whisper this time. "Although if you'd rather, you can stay at school for Christmas."
"I would rather." Malorie whispered back. "Anything is better than here. Even if it does turn out not to be real."
"I'll send your reply with my owl when I get back home. And of course I'll be taking you to Diagon Alley to get all of your school supplies. We'll go tomorrow I think. A Sunday shouldn't be too busy."
"Where's Diagon Alley? Is that in Stevenage?"
"London. It'll only take about half an hour to a hour on the train." Miss Fox stood up. "Keep hold of your list of equipment and I'll be back in the morning. Around eight thirty how does that sound?"
"Sounds great."
Malorie's head was spinning as she saw Miss Fox to the door. The woman gave her another fond smile as she turned and left the driveway. Malorie didn't return to the dinner table, nor did she bother to listen to Scott and Karen's conversation. Instead she ran upstairs to her attic bedroom and lay back on her bed, staring at the window. It wasn't long until she saw a dark feathered owl taking off into the sky and her heart leaped in wonder if that was her letter heading off to Hogwarts.
She changed into her pajamas with a giddy smile on her face before settling into bed. She set her alarm clock for seven thirty to make sure she was ready to go when Miss Fox arrived. It wasn't until her eyes were almost completely closed in sleep that she realized she didn't have any money.