The True Heir of Slytherin
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in anyway, new characters introduced belong to my slightly insane imagination, but are not patented. You may recall that several clips of the following writing are straight from the book, but I assure you the complete text couldn't be further from J.K. Rowling's works.
"There you are! Where have you been? The most ridiculous rumors – someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying car –"
"Well, we haven't been expelled," Harry assured her.
"You're not telling me you did fly here?" said Hermione, sounding almost as severe as Professor McGonagall.
"Skip the lecture," said Ron impatiently, "And tell us the new password."
"It's 'wattlebird' " said Hermione impatiently, "but that's not the point, Harry --"
Her words were cut short, however, as the portrait of the fat lady swung open and there was sudden storm of clapping. It looked as though the whole of Gryffindor House was still awake, packed into the circular common room, standing on the lopsided tables and squashy armchairs, waiting for them to arrive. Arms reached through the portrait hole to pull Harry and Ron inside, leaving Hermione to scramble in after them.
"Brilliant!" yelled Lee Jordan. "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years –"
"Good for you," said a fifth year Harry had never spoken to; someone was patting him on the back as though he'd just won a marathon; Fred and George pushed their way to the front of the crowd and said together, "Why couldn't we've come in the car, eh?"
"Harry!" a dark red haired little first year Harry had never seen before had run up to him and thrown her arms around his shoulders, "I'm finally meeting you, I can't believe it!"
"I tried to tell you before Harry," Hermione said apprehensively, "Harry, meet Ella Potter,"
"Potter? I didn't think it was that common of a surname," wondered Ron, who was being crowned with a gold and scarlet top hat, squawking the words, 'Weasley is our king!'
"It's not," the girl said warily,
"Harry, Ella is your sister," Hermione explained furtively,
"What?" Harry asked, "That's impossible,"
"It's not," the girl said with a more confident tone this time,
"I think you should go straight to Dumbledore, the both of you. Ella said that he could explain it all wonders better than she," Hermione suggested,
"I'm not going to Dumbledore!" exclaimed Harry, "If he sees me again today he's liable to change his mind about expelling me! I don't exactly have a clean record you know!"
"Harry, you've done nothing wrong, and Dumbledore is expecting this, that's probably why you and Ron weren't expelled in the first place," Hermione told him exasperatedly. Harry looked at her, and then he looked at Ella. Her emerald eyes shining with hope,
"Hold on," Harry breathed, "Your eyes, they're …" he peered into the deep emerald abysses, "They're like mine," he marveled,
"I know," said Ella, "It's the first thing I ever noticed in photos that I saw of you, you've our mother's eyes, just like me,"
"Let's go to Dumbledore," Harry announced, grabbing her gently by the arm and taking her to the portrait hole, "We'll see you guys later!" he called to Hermione and Ron, who was stuffing his mouth with a chocolate frog that had been presented to him by a crowd of goggling fifth years,
They were walking along the passageways in silence when suddenly Harry realized he didn't have the faintest idea where Dumbledore's office was,
"You don't er, happen to know where Dumbledore's office is, do you?" Harry asked stupidly, she was a first year, barely been here for a couple of hours, of course she didn't know,
"It's just along this corridor," Ella pointed down a hall to their right,
"Oh," Harry replied, "How do you know that?"
"Professor McGonagall brought me to him before the Sorting Ceremony, that's how come I had told your friend that it would be best for him to explain everything to you, because he advised me to bring you directly to his office once I met you," she said very quickly,
"Oh," Harry replied again,
"Sherbet lemon!" stated Ella clearly to a great stone gargoyle. This was evidently a password, because the gargoyle sprang suddenly to life and hopped aside as the wall behind him split in two. Behind the wall was a spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upward, like an escalator. As he and Ella stepped onto it, Harry heard the wall thud closed behind them. They rose upward in circles, higher and higher until at last, slightly dizzy, Harry saw a gleaming oak door ahead, with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin. They stepped off the stone staircase at the top; Ella had just outstretched her arm to knock on the door when it opened,
"Ah, Mr. Potter, Ms. Potter. I've been expecting you," Professor Dumbledore had opened the door, "Come sit down, would you like a cup of tea?"
"No thanks," Harry said at the exact same time as Ella, they looked at each other, dumbstruck,
"Yes," exhaled Professor Dumbledore, "Remus did express to me the eternally strong sibling bond that the two of you share,"
"Remus?" Harry had no clue who this was,
"My god father," Ella said quickly,
"How can we have a strong sibling bond? We've never met," Harry said, "Have we?" this was all so confusing,
"Yes, I suppose we can start the explanations there," Dumbledore said, slightly nodding his head, "Harry, I assume you already know who this is,"
"My sister?" Harry didn't sound quite sure when he said this,
"Half sister, Harry, her mother is Lily Potter, the same as yours. And her father," Dumbledore hesitated, "Is Lord Voldemort,"
"WHAT?" exclaimed Harry, jumping from his seat in front of Professor Dumbledore's desk,
"Harry, please, you must control yourself," the headmaster commanded, and Harry took his seat again. This must be some sort of joke, a punishment for his misdemeanor that evening, but Dumbledore didn't ordinarily joke about Lord Voldemort,
"It is a very long story that you must know. First of all, Ella is nothing like her father, she inherited a fair few of his powers, but then again so did you when he gave you that scar," Professor Dumbledore pointed gravely at Harry's forehead with his wand,
"But," Harry couldn't believe this, it had to be some sort of a joke, his mother would never have had a child with Voldemort, "How?"
"I assume you know how we are created Harry," Harry cringed at this reference, "And under this particular circumstance it is was forced. Lord Voldemort had no idea, of course, that he gained a daughter from the situation. Nor did your father, Harry, know that Ella was not his own," Dumbledore paused, perhaps thinking that Harry would yet again burst into a fury of disbeliefs, but Harry kept silent, "Lily confided only in myself who Ella's true father was, and trusted me not to tell a soul. Of course I wouldn't, this would put the entire Potter family in jeopardy. Still, rarely anyone knows who Ella is, and those who do, know not of her father. When she was born, Lily and James named one of their dearest friends Godfather of Ella. The night that your parents were killed, Harry, Ella was at her Godfather's house. It must have been fate that Voldemort never discovered an unexpected Potter, and that he did not murder his only heir," Dumbledore finished. Harry soaked it all in,
"No," he laughed, "It's a joke, you're all joking, it can't be true,"
"I'm afraid it is, Harry," Professor Dumbledore announced,
"Well, then what, she's been living with muggles for the past 11 years as well," Harry wondered,
"No," Dumbledore replied, "Ella has resided with her Godfather," Ella, who had been surprisingly quiet during the whole conversation, nodded in agreement,
"What?" exploded Harry, "How come I couldn't live with this Godfather? How come I got stuck with the Dursleys?"
"Because Harry," Dumbledore raised his voice, "He is not your Godfather, therefore he was not liable to become your guardian after your parent's death,"
"So it's better to separate siblings?" Harry retorted,
"Harry, there are reasons behind this which you cannot understand at the present time, and I refuse to tell you until you are older," Professor Dumbledore insisted strongly. Harry sat quietly for a moment, until Dumbledore spoke again,
"Now, I must express upon both of you the importance of keeping the identity Ella's true father a secret," Professor Dumbledore said,
"Why?" asked Harry,
"How did you react just now when you discovered who her father is?" Dumbledore asked Harry, he thought of his jumping out of the chair,
"Right," Harry mumbled, he could feel his face turning scarlet, "So what do we tell them? I've just miraculously got a little sister all of a sudden?"
"You tell them exactly what everyone believed 11 years ago. Ella is your little sister, her father is James Potter, and the night that you got that scar, Ella was at her Godfather's house, where she has resided the past decade so as not to be put in the public eye," Dumbledore told them.
"Can I tell anyone the truth?" Harry asked, thinking he would tell Ron and Hermione of this news the moment he returned to the common room.
"It is not advisable," Dumbledore replied, looking Harry sternly in the eyes as if he knew what Harry had been planning, "Now, it is late, Harry I think you've had a long night, I recommend the two of you go back up to Gryffindor Tower, and get some rest before your first day tomorrow. Off you trot," he walked them out of his office and Harry and Ella traveled back to Gryffindor tower together.
When they arrived the celebrations appeared to have ended. The only ones left in the common room was Percy, desperately trying to make Fred George clean up their jugs of enchanted pumpkin juice, which made the drinker shout out insults towards the prefects. Ella giggled at this,
"Well, good night then," Harry said to her, leaving for the boy's dormitories
"G'night," she said, "And Harry," she hurried over to him and hugged him once more, "You've no idea how happy I am to finally have met you,"
"Right," he said uncomfortably, "You two," she then scrambled up to the girl's dormitories as Harry went to his own.