Harry had walked this hall many times in his career a Auror, but he couldn't help but feel that there was something different about it this time. He had never been called to the minister about Hogwarts. He had tried for weeks to predict what the matter was, but the Ministry had done a great job at hiding the information. Now, at the peak of his curiosity, it was all Harry could do but run to the office, burst in, and demand to know what was going on. He held in his excitement, though.
He finally reached the door, and walked inside. What he saw was an assembly of people of the oddest sort. Professor McGonagall, Arthur Weasley, a large amount of Aurors, the new Minister of Magic, and a large living portrait of Albus Dumbledore. "Hello Harry." Dumbledore said, having been the first to see Harry.
"Ah Harry my boy!" the friendly phrase came with a strangely solemn tone as Arthur said it, "We have a rather odd favour to ask of you."
"What is it?" Harry asked, now a bit worried.
"Well," Dumbledore began, motioning for silence from the others by a wave of his hand, "there is a young girl, a muggle born, who needs a bit of convincing that there is such thing as Hogwarts, and magic in general."
"I don't understand, don't you usually send faculty of the school to do this sort of job?"
"Yes Harry, but I think you'll find this case to be quite…" he paused to think of the right word, "quite unique".
Harry looked to some of the others in the room to see what they made of it. Each shrugged and looked as if they had just as little clue as Harry as to what was going on.
"Alright then, er, who is this girl?" Harry accepted the job.
Arthur then took over. "Well, Harry, her situation is a little complicated to explain. This girl has no name, no identity, rather, she is a piece of property. She lives in a society of savages, she is bought and sold like an animal—"
"Wait," Harry interrupted, "so this is more like a rescue than a recruit."
"Not exactly, see we would leave her be if she was just a regular witch, even one of extraordinary talent. But she has an unprecedented ability that could make her extremely dangerous in the wrong hands."
"Two rather rare abilities," Dumbledore corrected, "but one is an ability that we had previously thought a myth. She has the ability to control people's minds, not in the way that mind control is so commonly thought of, but rather, she can insert her own thoughts into other's heads. If she is trained, she can do as much as make one think that they are somewhere that they are not. She might even be able to insert fake memories into people's minds."
Harry was now completely and utterly confused. "So what exactly am I to be doing? And why is it that I have to do it? Not that I am unwilling, I'm just not entirely clear on what my part in this is."
"Your part, Harry, is to go to this girl, and try to convince her to come here."
"And if she refuses?" McGonagall spoke for the first time.
"Then Harry will have to find a different means of persuasion. She might be violent, but I am positive that it will be nothing that a grown man cannot handle." Dumbledore let out a chuckle.
"Alright then, shall I set off then?" Harry asked, sincerely hoping that he didn't have to set off right then, as it was very near dinner, and he knew that if he missed dinner, Ginny would be very angry.
"No, Harry, but tomorrow, you will need to start preparing for your journey."
"Journey? How long will I be gone?"
"We have no way of knowing, just come directly to this office tomorrow. Tell no one you don't absolutely and entirely trust where you are going, and prepare an extra room in your home. She will need to stay in your home until term begins."
Harry thought immediately of the safety of his own children, and of the visit he was scheduled to make to his cousin in three days. He opened his mouth to protest, but was immediately cut off by Arthur.
"We knew you would be concerned, so if you meet her, and think she will be a danger to you, Ginny, or the kids, Molly and I have an extra room. But that is only if she is dangerous."
Harry just smiled and said, "I don't think that'll be necessary."
"Just know that the option is open to you."
**********
Daniel's cheeks were flushed from running. Lia laughed as she looked over her shoulder and realized that Daniel had collapsed into the grass. Victorious, she reversed her direction and went to lie next to him. She ran her fingers through the blades of grass and decided to do a little gloating.
"So Dan, who's faster?"
He exhaled deeply, obviously exasperated. "You are."
"And," Lia pushed on, not having finished, "you'll never challenge me again?"
Dan chuckled, "I can't promise you that".
"You're so stupid!" She slapped his arm and sat up to look at the manor. The grey stones were being covered more each day by the ivy growing up the side. They had both lived there all their lives, but still found it difficult to look upon it with a fond eye.
They spent most of their time outside, trying to avoid the tortures that resided within. Summer was off-season for them both. It was the only time of year that they were not available for rent, but it didn't mean that they got to stop training. Thalia was subject to nearly constant training in dance, menslaedo, and moving. Daniel, not being quite as gifted, was trained in dance and litis. He was an extremely talented fighter, and was the preliator in highest demand. Therefore, he was supposed to be in constant training, but he had escaped today to spend his evening with Lia.
He looked up at her and smiled. She leaned back on her arms and sighed, her long light brown hair cascading down her shoulders. Her beautiful blue eyes were scanning the trees, her perfect fair skin glowing in the moonlight, disrupted only by the jagged scar on her upper arm.
Daniels silent admiration was interrupted by a loud bell sounding from the Manor. They both immediately stood and rushed back inside. The bell sounding only gave them each around ten minutes to get back to their chambers, so they said their goodbyes in the main hall and sprinted off in opposite directions, Daniel still exhausted by their race.
Lia arrived back at her room within seconds of the curfew bell and dropped directly into bed, dreading tomorrow, for she had been told of a potential buyer.
**********
Heading toward the Headmaster's office in Hogwarts felt quite strange. He had never been inside the school during the summer, and it felt quite wrong. He had been directed here by the minister and assumed he was to be speaking to Dumbledore. He was correct.
Dumbledore's portrait began speaking the moment Harry was in the office. "Ah Harry, do sit down. Today you are going to be renting a girl to bring her back here for observation and education. You must have wondered what I was hinting at yesterday, and I can now tell you in the privacy of this office." Dumbledore obviously didn't count all of the other portraits practically leaning out of their frames.
"You see, we sent an agent to observe this odd concentration of magic that we found up in the southern end of Scotland and we found something rather odd. We found an entire civilization of muggles in the mountains, living completely parallel to the modern world. No one there has ever left, and the only people who ever enter the place are witches and wizards there to "rent". We found that the muggles that give birth to witches and wizards there, immediately have to relinquish the child to the business. There is an entire manor there filled with muggle born witches and wizards being trained, sold, and rented out. This is how the village trades for food, good water, and the like. So, Harry, you might be asking what makes this one witch special. Well, she is the only one there that has the power referred to as menslaedo, which is, as I told you last night, the power to manipulate other's thoughts and memories. We also saw something else that I think you will find quite curious. No more chatter, though. You are to go and ask for mover 1787. You will rent her for one year, and you will pay with what we have put in the car for you. Off you go then." Dumbledore then stood, and left the portrait. Harry, rather overwhelmed and confused at Dumbledore's hasty manner, stood and left the office.
A Ministry car was parked outside of Howarts, and inside was two large rolls of curtain-like fabric, a large container of water, a bundle of grains, and a note that said,
Harry,
This car will take you to where you need to go. When you are at the entrance of the village, you are to trade the grains for the right of entry. You are then to drive through a large forest, and you will come to a Manor house. Go inside with the water, ask to rent mover 1787, and give them the water. They will walk both you and her back to the car, and you will give them the fabric in exchange for the girl. Leave immediately after.
Best of Luck,
Arnold Weasley
**********
Lia was being yanked in all different directions as the servants prepared her for her buyer. They said a man had arrived asking specifically for her and he was willing to pay a large sum to rent her for a year. Lia was horrified at the idea of being away from her best friend for an entire year, and now was screaming for Daniel, wanting to say goodbye.
Fighting the gaurds every step of the way, she was dragged to the main hall, where the man stood. He looked at her with kind fascination, but Lia continued to squirm, buck, kick, and scream wanting not to go with this strange man.
**********
Harry pitied the poor girl, she looked near tears as she was cruelly dragged toward him. She struggled against the two men that held her, and tried to bite them as they shoved a strip of fabric in her mouth. Her screaming silenced, she seemed to give up and fell limply to the floor. All heads seemed to turn when they heard a horrified cry from upstairs, a young boy, around Harry's son, James' age, came running toward the poor girl on the floor, trying to lift her back up and console her. Harry seriously considered just leaving, and letting this poor girl live in peace, but quickly came to his senses.
The young boy said goodbye to 1787, and she walked to Harry calmly, her face void of all emotion. He removed the fabric from her mouth and said "Hello" to her.
"Hello" was all the reply he received back.
He walked her to his car, gave up the fabric, and let the car carry them away. The girl solemnly looking back at the house they were leaving. Harry hated to have caused so much pain, and resolved to distract the girl from her sadness. "So," He began, "I guess I'll have to name you since you don't seem to have a name yet. What do you have in mind?" He smiled at her and received no emotion back.
"Thalia," She said after awhile.
"I'm sorry?" Harry asked, having forgotten what the question was.
"Thalia. It's my name."
"Oh." Harry said. "Well that's a pretty name. Does it mean anything?"
"It's the name of the Muse of Comedy." She explained.
"That's interesting. How old are you?" He asked, trying hard to think of questions to ask.
"Fifteen." She replied, looking directly ahead, still careful not to betray any emotion.
"Oh! You are the same age as my oldest son, James! And one year older than my other son, Albus, and my niece, Rose!" Harry explained excitedly hoping that she would respond to this in a more animated fashion. She didn't. She simply replied with a quiet, oh.
Harry gave up trying to make small talk and left Thalia alone. After some time, she fell asleep and he found himself watching out the window as the car drove itself. He watched as the trees passed. He wondered what it was that Dumbledore found so unique about this girl. She seemed not to be particularly extraordinary.
Thalia lay there in the seat beside Harry and he tried hard to find something about her that was worth noticing. He found nothing. She was a very pretty girl, but there were pretty girls everywhere. No way Dumbledore would have Harry make this trip just because this girl was pretty. No, there was something special about this girl, and it was obvious that Dumbledore wanted Harry to find out what that was for himself.
**********
Lia could feel him observe her as she pretended to sleep. He seemed nice enough, but she wondered why. Renters were almost always cruel and abusive, and when they weren't they were perverted creeps that just had her to complete some sick sexual fantasy. But she got a different feeling from this man. She felt… safe. It was almost alarming how normal he was. He looked every bit the "everyman" that he sounded like, with his messy black hair, crooked glasses, a brown sweater, and jeans.
She adjusted her position in her seat to face away from him so he couldn't see her face as it involuntarily twisted into a worried expression that no sleeping person would make. Lia then feigned waking up and turned back to this strange man. Before she could stop it, she asked, "What's your name?"
She was extremely surprised when he didn't respond angrily. Asking questions was extremely disrespectful. He didn't seem bothered by it though. "Harry, Harry Potter." He replied.
"Oh." She said, afraid that at any moment he might punish her. He didn't. He just asked another question.
"So, Thalia, who was that guy, back at the manor?" Mr. Potter asked casually.
"He was Daniel. He's my best friend. We've known each other since we were both two."
"Wow, that's a long time." He seemed glad to finally get her to talk.
"Yes. A long time." She sighed as she thought of being away from Daniel for an entire year.
"May I ask a question sir?" Lia asked as soon as the thought popped into her head.
Mr. Potter laughed and said, "You just did. But you can ask another."
She smiled in spite of herself and went on with it. "Will you allow me to send letters?" Lia bit her lip hoping dearly to hear a yes.
"Of course! Do you have an owl?"
Lia raised her eyebrows, realizing that this man was a wizard. She quickly ran through all the possible outcomes of her telling him she was a witch, and in the end, just played it stupid. "I'm sorry?" She said as innocently as she could.
**********
Harry then realized his mistake. Thalia didn't know that witches and wizards sent their mail by owl. She didn't even know she was a witch herself. In fact, she probably didn't even know magic existed! He realized that he should probably not mention anything magic around her, just in case Dumbledore didn't want her to know anything. But then again, it would be hard to conceal magic in a house run entirely by magic, with three magic children, one of which had a not-so-magical big mouth. Harry decided to let Thalia just find out for herself about magic. She would be able to put together the pieces for herself.
In the mean time, though, Harry just said, "You can just use the regular post."
The car was silent for the rest of the ride there, which was relatively short, considering Thalia had slept most of the way. Harry felt a sense of relief when he saw Ginny walking out their front door to greet them, Lily and Albus following reluctantly behind.
**********
The car pulled into the driveway and Lia saw three people walk out of the comfortable little house. The first was the oldest, a woman about the same age as Mr. Potter, Thalia thought perhaps Mrs. Potter? The second looked like a smaller version of Mrs. Potter. She had the same red hair, bright blue eyes, and the same face. The third, looked older than the little girl, but he looked the exact opposite. He looked like a young Mr. Potter. Right down to the bright green eyes and the crooked glasses. They all had welcoming expressions on their faces and the boy stepped forward to help Lia with her bags.
"No," Lia held up her hand to who she thought could either be Albus, or James. "I don't have anything." She said and Albus/James stepped back toward the two red heads.
"Everyone," Mr. Potter began, after getting out of the car, "this is Thalia. She will be staying with us for awhile. So, Thalia, you should probably get to know everyone's names. This," He pointed to the red haired woman, "is my wife Ginny. This," He stepped one person over to point to Albus/James "is Albus. And finally, this," pointing at last to the little girl, "is our daughter Lily."
"Hi." Lily said, stepping forward toward Lia. "I like your dress." She smiled and Lia saw that she was missing both of her front teeth. Lia couldn't help but smile at the little girl.
"Thank you. I like yours too." Thalia said, pointing at Lily's pink Sunday dress.
Thalia saw Mrs. Potter's face go white as she shrieked, pointing at the scar on Thalia's arm. "Harry!" She said, obviously attempting to remain calm. "Look at what Thalia has."
Mr. Potter walked around to see Lia's left arm, and promptly turned the same colour as his wife. Lily looked around her father to have a look, and didn't seem to react quite the same way. She almost seemed joyful, like she had just discovered something important.
"Daddy!" She said, "It looks just like yours!"
Her smile faded as her father replied only by saying, "Kids go inside." He said it in a stern tone that Thalia hadn't heard him use yet. She found herself shrinking away from him, fully expecting a whip, or a punch to the face. She got no such thing.
"Thalia," Mr. Potter said calmly, grabbing Lia's shoulders and turning her to face him, "Where did you get this scar?"
Lia panicked and she did what she did best when in danger, take emotion out of the equation, and lie. "I don't know." She said as monotonously as she could, taking care that there was no fear on her face.
"Thalia, dear, please. We won't hurt you. We just need to know who gave you that scar." The woman coaxed.
"Who said it was someone and not something?" Lia snapped, perhaps a little too quickly.
Mrs. Potter pushed aside her husband and took Lia's hands into her own. "Did someone do this to you? Look, see? Harry has one too." She said softly. Lia looked up to see Mr. Potter push his hair off his forehead, revealing a jagged scar identical to Lia's.
"No. No one did anything to me. I don't remember how I got this scar." She lied. She could feel her heart start to beat faster and she felt more relieved than words can express when a young boy walked up to them and greeted them.
"Hey dad, mum. Who's this?" This must be James, Thalia thought. He looked exactly like his father and younger brother, the only difference were his eyes. He had his mother's eyes.
"This is Thalia. Thalia, this is our other son, James." Mrs. Potter said, still staring at Lia's arm.
James followed his mothers gaze and upon seeing the scar, exclaimed, "Bloody hell! Dad, that scar's on your head!"
Lia, now frightened that she had made a terrible mistake in not wearing her dress to cover her arm, felt close to tears. She closed her eyes and hung her head to avoid the gaze of the Potters. She could hear all three of them talking to her, but she ignored them. She thought of Daniel, and what he was probably doing right then. He was probably in training, being screamed at or whipped for not going fast enough, hitting hard enough, or doing well enough. She was disgusted at herself that she would rather be in his place than her own.
None the less, she continued to ignore the shouting Potters around her. She let them lead her into their home, and she finally broke out of her isolation that panic had placed her in. She allowed Mr. Potter to lead her to her room upstairs. He informed her that she would be sharing with Lily, and she nodded politely, hoping that he would leave her alone to think. He did.
Lia lay down on the bed that was much more comfortable than any she had ever been given. She wondered why the Potters had rented her. They didn't seem to be interested in her dancing, and she couldn't possibly think of a reason they would know of her menslaedo. She decided not to think of it anymore, hoping that their intentions would soon reveal themselves.
**********
Ginny looked at Harry with a worried face. "How is this possible? This just can't be! Do you think it could have been an accident?"
"No." Harry said. "I'm nearly positive that that scar was caused by magic. I can't tell you how it ended up looking like mine, and I can't be sure that it was caused by the same spell, but I am pretty near sure that it's magic."
"Well we can't go visit Ron and Hermione with her looking like that, much less your cousin! We are visiting your cousin in a week aren't we?" She asked.
"Well we were, but it looks like we might have to just cancel." Harry said, feigning disappointment. He knew that Dudley, his wife Mary, and his two sons Cliff and Gareth despised anything magic. And Harry could just feel that Thalia's magic would flare up in their presence.
He did, however, disagree about not being able to visit the Weasleys. They were every bit the magical family that the Potters were. "Why can't we visit Ron and Hermione?" Harry protested before he could stop himself.
"Because, Harry, you know that Ron has some serious self control issues, and you know he wouldn't be able to resist asking poor Thalia about it! You saw what she did when we spoke to her about it, and we were relatively calm about everything." Harry hated to admit that his wife was right.
"Well can't we just speak to him in advance? I see Hermione at work tomorrow. I can just tell her to warn him!" He said, satisfied with his solution.
"You do what you think is best. Just bear in mind that the poor girl barely knows us and she must be frightened half to death!" Ginny said, her concern for the girl displayed blatantly on her face.
"Ginny, you should go and speak to her, or have Al go speak to her. You two are the calmest in this house and you must be able to at least figure out what people usually do when renting her."
She shuddered at the mention of renting. "It's a sickening thing isn't it, the fact that her entire life, she's been sold to all sorts of complete strangers; just so they can do Lord knows what to her!"
"Yes it is, but you know that nothing bad will happen to her while she's here so just go talk to her." Harry coaxed his wife.
"Alright." She gave in and headed up the stairs to speak to Thalia.
**********
Harry stared into Dumbledore's empty portrait frame and waited for him to return. He had been told that there was an important matter to discuss. He looked about the office and saw that many things had changed. The desk was much too organized for Harry's taste. He looked around at the books on the wall. Books such as "Dark Magic Through the Ages" and "Potions; Poisons or Remedy? " had been replaced by "Housekeeping Charms" and "Healing the Wounds of the Heart". Harry cringed at the indignity that had taken over the office, but his cringing was brought to an end when Dumbledore stode back into his portrait.
"Harry, how good of you to come and meet me. I had been wondering when you would arrive." He chuckled and motioned for Harry to sit down.
"I think I might know what you were talking about. Why she's so special." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, signaling for Harry to continue. "She has my scar. It's the same exact one."
"Ah yes she does indeed. I knew you would notice, it is pretty obvious." Harry nodded in agreement, deciding not to tell him that it had actually been Ginny to notice the scar. "We have decided, that is, I have decided to send her here with your children this year." He said.
"What? But she has no magical training at all. She doesn't even have a wand. She didn't even know that we send our mail by owl!" He exclaimed confusedly.
Dumbledore laughed at this. "Oh, she knows. I see that you haven't figured out what she is rented out for. People rent her as entertainment. Large magic families rent people like her to dance at parties, hypnotize their enemies, and fight people who might challenge their authority. I am surprised that you have not noticed her other ability. Yes, she has no formal magic training and she has no wand, but she doesn't need either. This girl has taught herself the art of wandless magic. No doubt as a self-defense mechanism, but she is surely ready for the fifth year curriculum here. All she needs to be taught is incantations. You underestimate the power of this girl."
Harry sat shocked. "Thalia," was all he could say.
"I'm sorry?" Dumbledore said.
"Thalia. It's her name. You said she doesn't have a name. She does. It's Thalia." Harry stated.
"Thalia, is it then? Well then, Thalia has the power of wandless magic and she has more power than I have seen since you left this school. Please be careful."
"Professor, one last thing. Where did she get that scar?"
"Well Harry," said Dumbledore, leaning slightly forward, "I was counting on you to find that out for me."