Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
By Ralindir
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series, which is a shame. I do not, either, own Anna, as she is my sister.
A/N: Anna is a real person, my sister. Truth.
Chapter 1: The witch, the squib and realisations
10th October 12:30 p.m., Boat Lagoon, Thailand
"I'm a what??!" The red-haired girl who had yelled sat back, her face showing shock and amusement. The tall, stiff woman who had introduced herself as Professor McGonagall and was sitting opposite the red-head, glanced at the bushy-haired brunette girl, introduced as Hermione Granger, beside her.
"You are a witch," Hermione said patiently. The red-head, called Anna, laughed.
"Oh, I get it. This is just some big joke that Courtney has cooked up, right?" she said, rolling her eyes.
"It isn't!" the girl sitting beside her protested. McGonagall sighed. This is going to be difficult, she thought.
"Well. Let me ask you something. Has anything ever happened that's strange or out of the ordinary, say, bordering supernatural?" she asked, staring Anna in the eye. Anna stared back, almost rudely, as she thought.
"Well…" she started, realising that stuff had happened. Her head sank down as she began to mutter the events, not quite loud enough for all those present to hear. Eventually she looked back up at McGonagall, a look of almost belief in her hazel, green streaked eyes. But there was another look, one that was not so easy to describe. "Well, if you are magic and a witch and all that, how about you show us some magic?" She sat back, a triumphant look on her face. But inside she was unsure. This was her trump, her 'ace in the hole'. If they could pass this obstacle, she would have no choice but to believe them and her whole life, her ideas of how the world worked and went would be thrown out of wack. McGonagall glanced at Hermione. She would have expected something else. She took out her wand and pointed it at the bird that was in a cage hanging nearby. Anna suddenly let out a yell and leaped out of her chair, lunging towards the cage. She stood in front of it, shielding the bird with her body. She glared at McGonagall who was staring at her with a slightly shocked look on her face.
"Don't. Even. Think. About. Hurting. Ketut," Anna snarled, her teeth clenched in anger. McGonagall slowly lowered her wand but Anna still didn't move.
"It's ok," Hermione said quietly to Anna. "She didn't know." Slowly, Anna moved away and sat back in her chair.
"Ok. I'll believe you," Anna said. "Where is this school?"
"England. I can't tell you where exactly but it's near London," McGonagall said. "Here are your schoo-"
"England??! Bloody hell…" Anna exclaimed. She frowned. "But shouldn't I be going to an Australian magic school? Or isn't there any?"
"There is but for various reasons that cannot be really discussed here, you have to go to Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts?" Anna snorted with laughter. McGonagall frowned at her and she quickly silenced herself. "Anyway, how am I going to get there?"
"Via portkey," McGonagall said. Seeing the look of puzzlement on Anna's face, she began to explain. "Portkeys are a magical form of transport. They can take the shape of almost anything. Basically, you hold onto it until the right time, and then you are whisked off to wherever you are going."
"And what is 'the right time' in this case?"
"1 o'clock pm. Meaning, you have to get going and pack now. Hermione can help you if you like." Anna was about to answer when suddenly her and Courtney's parents arrived. They stopped in the doorway at the sight of the three children and McGonagall. For a moment there was silence and then McGonagall got up and walked over to them, a stiff smile on her face.
"Hello Mr and Mrs Woods. I am Professor McGonagall, Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts," she said, offering her hand to shake with Mr Woods. He went white and shook her hand, looking as if he was going to faint.
"Which one is it then? Courtney?" he asked softly, oblivious of the looks being shot at him by his family.
"Miss Anna, actually. I am afraid that Miss Courtney has no magical powers." Courtney looked rather bummed at this. Mr Woods walked over to Anna and picked her up, hugging her tightly. She looked rather shocked at this but then hugged him back. Then he put her down and stared at her, his eyes brimming with tears.
"Anna…I can't believe you're a witch. I'm sorry I've kept this from you for all this time but I wasn't sure," he said quietly. McGonagall cleared her throat.
"I'm sorry to break this up…" she said in a strange tone. Anna glanced at her.
"After I go, when will I see my family again?" she asked, her tone flat.
"Christmas, Easter and other such holidays."
"Well, that's a damn long time to be away, especially as I've hardly ever been away from my family longer than a week! Can't you do some sort of magic spell to pack?" McGonagall, Hermione and Mr Woods all looked rather shocked at Anna's words. McGonagall seemed to be about to yell at her or something, when she saw the look in Ann's eyes, a look of sadness and angriness. The Professor could guess where both feelings came from. Silently, she walked over to where she could see Anna's clothes.
"Pack," she said and the clothes all leaped into a suitcase which was lying open on the floor. Anna dashed over to a couple of drawers, grabbing stuff and tossing it all in, on top of her neatly folded clothes. Finally, she shut her suitcase lid and zipped it closed. She turned slowly to face her family and rushed over, crying. She hugged all of them, first Courtney, then her mum and finally her dad. Finally, her dad pulled away and looked her in the eye.
"Now you be good and take care of yourself," he said, smiling through his tears. She nodded, sniffling back her tears and wiping her eyes before turning to McGonagall. It was nearly 1 o'clock. McGonagall nodded to them all and drew out from her robe a rolled up newspaper, which she, Hermione and Anna all grasped onto, Anna holding tightly onto the handle of her suitcase, just before it was 1 o'clock, she turned and watched her family.
"I'll miss you," she whispered before the portkey activated and she felt a jerk somewhere behind her navel and the world seemed to spin. She banged into Hermione as they seemed to fly in a whirling vortex of wind and colour. Finally, they stopped moving and Hermione fell over but Anna stayed upright. Half her life on a boat had given her excellent balance. She helped Hermione to her feet and looked around. They were standing in an empty, rather grubby room with an ancient bed and a dresser with a cracked mirror.
"This is your room. It is at the Leaky Cauldron, in Diagon Alley. You will be staying here until it is time to leave for Hogwarts," McGonagall said brusquely as she walked quickly out the door, leaving the two girls alone. They looked at each other and Anna began to laugh. Hermione frowned at her.
"What's so funny?" she asked and Anna broke into tears, though not because of Hermione's words. Hermione looked shocked and puzzled and then realised how Anna felt. "Oh, it's ok…" she said as she tried to comfort her. Eventually, Anna stopped crying and wiped her eyes, grinning weakly at Hermione.
"Thanks," she said, her voice slightly croaky. Hermione patted her on the back and they left the room, going down the stairs to find McGonagall. Downstairs was a like a pub, kind of grubby but not filthy. McGonagall was sitting at the bar, talking to a thin, pale man wearing a purple turban. They seemed very busy talking so the two girls only interrupted long enough to say they were going into Diagon Alley and be given two letters by McGonagall before they went out the back of the pub. Hermione tapped a brick on the wall and the wall parted, creating a large archway and revealing a long, busy street full of shops and people. The walked quickly along the street until they found a ice-cream parlour. There they stopped, buying two large chocolate sundaes, Hermione paying with large gold coins called galleons. They sat outside to eat the sundaes and look at the letters McGonagall had given them.
A/N: gotta finish it there. I can't find my copy of Stone so I can't find the letter. Pls, R&R and pls no flames.