All Right! Let the second generation Harry Potter fanfiction begin!
Please know: I do not own any of the real Harry Potter characters, places, objects, concepts, etc. What I DO own is the plot and the OC's.
Let the Story of the next generation of witches and wizards at Hogwarts unfold!
Belinda Gaunt was nervous. She was getting ready to leave her place of refuge and enter the real world. She was eleven now, and was expecting her letter soon. She knew it was coming; her mother had read the signs and proclaimed her magical.
I wish you were here Mom. You would be so proud of me, Belinda thought. Her mother had passed away when she was seven, four years ago. Her mother had always taught her that eleven was an important age; the first step in becoming an adult.
Belinda was tall, but very thin for her age. Her thick black hair hung down past her shoulders and the darkness of it emphasized her very pale skin. Her eyes were a deep emerald and her bangs almost covered them.
Her only friend slithered into the room. It was Salazar, her pet snake. Belinda reached her hand down to rub his head.
"You're leaving," He hissed. It was not a question.
"Yes," she responded. "But I will be back when the cold comes and you are in the deep sleep of winter. I will also come back in the spring and summer. I will not be gone forever."
"Why can't I come?" he asked, sounding like the child that he was.
"Snakes aren't allowed. Only Owls, Cats or Toads are."
Salazar hissed angrily. Belinda smiled. He was only a year old, but was already as long as an adult cobra and one-half times thicker. He was a gift from a wizard that she had never seen in person, just delivered by owl with a note as an egg. That was how she got everything from the outside world.
Looking at the clock, she saw it was half past three. Going to the window, she opened it and leaned out. Her little cottage was protected by heavy magical barriers, but it didn't seem that way at times like this: the peaceful July air was heavy with humidity, the sun was rising and turning the clouds pink shot through with gold.
Belinda scanned the sky for any owls for the post that she so eagerly waited for. The sky was clear of any birds. She sighed. She had been waiting since her eleventh birthday at the start of June for the letter, but it wasn't here yet.
Salazar bumped her leg with his nose. She lowered her arm and he slithered up to rest on her shoulders.
"I don't like owls," he hissed into her ear. Belinda laughed and scratched his nose.
Hours passed. No post. Salazar was smug about it, and this annoyed her.
Then, in the early evening, there was a loud tapping on the window. Whipping around, she saw a snowy owl with two letters tied to it's leg.
Belinda abandoned her dinner and Salazar on the table as she rushed to the window. She threw it open and let the owl in, who fluttered to the table and held it's leg out, ignoring Salazar's hissed insults.
Slowly, she opened the thicker one of the two parchment envelopes. Inside was the letter she had been waiting for.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall
Dear miss Gaunt,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours Sincerely,
Flius Flitwick
Deputy Headmaster.
Belinda felt ready to scream. She was going to Hogwarts!
She glanced over the list of supplies before opening the second letter. She recognized the handwriting immediately as Professor McGonagall's, with whom she had corresponded with many times before.
Belinda,
You have no family to help you find your way around and to begin your life at Hogwarts. Because of this, a Wizarding family who have a child that will also be starting their first year at Hogwarts. As per instructions of the previous headmaster, you will be accompanied by Harry Potter's family to Diagon Alley. He will arrive at your home on August the fifteenth and give you the password of "Phoenix Song". Go with him and stay with his family until it is time to board the Hogwarts Express. He will give you instructions on how to board, and the rest will be taken care of at a later date.
Yours Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Belinda was a little shocked. Not at the situation, but at the names. The former headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, had given instructions regarding her. He seemed to be reaching beyond the grave to involve himself with her family.
The name of Harry Potter was even more surprising. She obviously knew who he was, and his story, but why would he be the one to take care of her? What was the connection there?
All Right! This Chapter is done! Belinda Gaunt is on her way to Diagon Alley next!
Until next chapter, Review!