Chapter 1: letters and consequences

It all started the Halloween after her eighth birthday. Well more like her seventh birthday if she really thought about it. And now here the culmination sat in her hand along with the other mail. Innocently with a bill and something from 'Aunt' Marge. Thinking back over the last three or four years she returned to the kitchen. She handed the rest of the mail to her guardian and started to open the envelop when it was snatched from her hand by Dudley. A young girl immediately shot a cold hard glare at the boy.

"Look, look dad she got a letter" He sneered waving the envelop around "who would write to the freak"

Sighing slightly and wondering if her thick cousin was worth a spell today or not. Deciding it wasn't worth it at the moment she waved her hand causing the letter to float towards her. Deftly plucking the letter from the air she glared at her guardian's son who looked afraid but kept flashing hopeful looks at his father. He was still not used to his father's difference to the girl. Until recently he would have done something to try and stop the blatant display of magic from the girl.

"I will be in my room with my letter." Her vibrant purple eyes went cold as she glanced over every one reminding them of the current order of things especially Dudley.

She sighed heavily and leaned against the closed door. It was still tiring to deal with her relatives. Walking over to her wardrobe and opening the door she looked in to the full length mirror attached to the back of the door making sure her appearance was still good. Her purple eyes looked herself over from her straight black hair with flame red times, her bare arms cover in her magical tattoos with the 'freak' mark on her left shoulder, and her clothes white sleeveless shirt, black vest with tight dark blue jeans, and ear still slightly pointed.

Nodding to herself that nothing was mussed she walked to her desk and placed the letter down and stared at it. Her left hand caressed her two most important possessions, her grimoire and her elvish dictionary having created both after much research. Her right hand travelled up her left arm and fingered the word seared into her flesh, 'freak'. Shaking herself from her memories she carefully opened the letter and carefully read through the pages.

Mumbling to herself "owl…31st". Sighing again as this was turning into another one of those frustrating days of dealing with her relatives repeatedly. She gathered her thoughts and prepared herself to either coerce or frighten the information she needed out of her Aunt. Hopefully she wouldn't have to research a new spell to summon an owl she had yet to have any luck basing any summoning spell off of her source books yet.

Walking back in to the kitchen she saw her aunt cleaning the already clean kitchen again. Deciding on trying the polite approach, "Excuse me Aunt petunia can you help me?" She watched as her Aunt stiffened at the sound of her voice.

"Yes. What do you want" Her aunt did not turn around. She took this as a good sign, more for the fact there wasn't a plate being thrown at her or insults dripping from Petunia's mouth right now.

"My letter said they need a response by the 31st. I need to know where I can get the services of an owl. Do you know?" keeping her voice flat as if asking for the latest gossip her Aunt adored. She had learned long ago the cute little girl act did not thaw Petunia's cold heart.

Pausing Petunia actually thought back to her long ago childhood when she still had happy thoughts about the abnormal things in her life. "They said if you ever want to send a letter to someone at the school and you don't have an owl go to an open window and say 'I need a Hogwarts owl to deliver a letter" Petunia stiffened again and went back to her cleaning. Completely ignoring the girl in the room. She also ignored the fact she had remembered a fond memory from her childhood about Lily. The older woman already back to her cleaning.

The now ignored girl sighed once more and exited the kitchen thinking this had been a small miracle. Easy information and no flying dishes. She would take what she could get and reward her guardians with a quick exit.

Reaching her room again, she paused for a moment wondering how long it would take for the owl to arrive. She decided to write her letter first just in case, she would dislike having to make an owl wait on her. Locating her new fountain pen and a blank sheet of paper, she wondered just what she should put in her first missive.

Dear Mrs. McGonagall,

Thank you for your letter of acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Before I accept your offer I would like to request a meeting with someone to have a few questions answered. My guardians have told me very little about magic. What I have learned has mostly been threw self-study. I am available anytime between now and July 31st

Sincerely

N'ataya

She signed the letter with her chosen Elven name. Ever since the fateful Halloween of her eighth year she had discarded much of her old life and embraced her 'freakishness' as her uncle called it. Tucked into one of her drawers was a wax seal kit she go when she purchased her fountain pen. Never having thought it would be more than a cute toy before she received her Hogwarts letter. She Held her thumb and first two fingers in a triangle shape and muttered a small spell until there was a tiny purple flame balanced between her three fingers. Choosing a simple red stick of wax she held it close to the flame and let several drops fall on the seal of the envelop before setting aside the stick and dismissing the flame. She pressed a small fleur de lis seal into the wax. The young sorceress simply wrote the Deputy Headmistress's name on the envelop hoping that was enough.

Going to the window she opened it up as far as it would go and repeated the phrase her Aunt had provided earlier. Once again deciding it would be polite if the coming owl would have a place to land she left her window open and went and sat on her bed once again beginning to think about the events that lead to this moment.

Another hot summer day out weeding the garden with her relatives inside avoiding the heat. She was reaching between the hydrangeas and pulling a weed out when she overheard Mrs. Number nine next door in Mrs. Number three's backyard as they moved closer to the fence. The pair of ladies where walking around the perimeter of the back yard. She could hear what they talked about when they approached this side of the fence. So far it had been nothing more than the normal gossip what Mrs. Whatever number had served for tea, whose son or daughter had a date, or their marks in university.

However on one pass their comments caused Harriet to pause and listen intently "He called it Dungeons and Dragons. He said his girlfriend was a sorceress"

With that defining statement Mrs. Number nine and three walked away from the shared fence and where no longer on that particular topic by the time they came back around. However, she was still thinking about what was said and her young mind locked on to the one important thought that maybe her uncle was wrong and magic was real. She decided then and there to find out all information she could.

She look up at her alarm clock and seeing she had been sitting there for an hour just thinking. A soft ruffling caused her to look up towards the window and noticed a soft brown coloured owl sitting on the window sill amber bird eyes meeting human purple eyes. Smiling and retrieving her letter to McGonagall, She approached the owl and held out the letter. The owl held out his leg. She noticed there was a piece of string already there and she sensed she was supposed to tie her letter to the owl's leg. With that action complete she watched the owl turn and fly off.

McGonagall nocked on the headmasters door and heard him say. "Come in Minerva." She gave an internal sigh but suppressed any outward sign of annoyance. She understood the need to appear to be the all-knowing headmaster, especially for Albus Dumbledore, but she grew tired of it. Especially since she knew most of his tricks, seeing as they were part of her Deputy headmistress training, who knew when she would have to cover for Albus and his numerous random other duties.

Walking into his office he made is customary offer of a lemon drop and a seat. She declined both as this would be a quick visit. She saw him going over some paperwork which he put to the side and gave her his full attention. His fingers loosely laced together. She handed him the letter she had received this morning via school owl.

"I received a letter requesting a meeting with a staff member. The letter is signed but not by any student we sent a letter to. When I checked the trace spell on the owl I found it came from Number four Privet Drive. I also discovered it was summoned by the pass phrase for muggle born parents from twenty years ago. I have already sent a letter back saying a staff member would be there tomorrow at ten in the morning. Would you like to go or shall I?"

She stood stiff as she delivered her report. Albus had sat impassive during the whole thing. He looked down and read the letter. She noticed him pause at the signature and frown slightly. When he looked up the frown was gone and he laced his long fingers together again before speaking.

"Please go visit Harriet tomorrow. Asses the young lady. I trust your judgement Minerva but please report back as soon as you are done."

"I may need to take her to Diagon Alley"

He leaned over and opened a drawer and retrieved a small key, "Here is the key to her trust vault. Please explain the basics but leave anything more detailed until after we have reviewed your assessment."

Professor McGonagall nodded primly, taking the key, and turned to exit, "Thank you Albus."

"As always, you are most welcome." He smiled at the retreating form of his deputy. He was generally fond of the young Scotswoman. Well young to him. He chuckled and pulled the newest draft of the Wizengamot's latest bill and returned to his review of it. He enjoyed being an educator the most but he did value these quiet summer months to get things caught back up.

N'ataya looked over her second letter from the magical community for the fourth time this morning. She had received it last night by the same soft brown owl who had picked up her original letter. She was excited, very excited. Her first contact with another magical. She didn't count her parents which she could not even remember.

She went to her wardrobe mirror, again for the fourth time. Her hair was again straight, black with red tips, but if the light caught it just right there was red highlights under the black that would flare. Today she was wearing faded blue jeans. Leggings weren't right for the image she wanted at the moment. She had a black baby doll style t-shirt with a fairy on it. Over her shirt she had a white denim vest. She turned her head slightly to the left and raised her hand to her ear. One finger traces her dragon ear wrap earing and another touches the tip of her pointed ear. Turning to face the right she makes sure the 'cherry blossom in the wind' earing was in place. Her tongue quickly flicked over her two lower lip piercings as an afterthought.

Glancing quickly over at her clock she saw she had just over 5 minutes before her meeting with the as yet unnamed staff member. With a final brief glance in the mirror she headed down stairs and took a seat on the bottom steps.

She could hear her guardians in the kitchen and sitting room. Vernon was harrumphing and Petunia was cleaning. Their normal state of general agitation. She had told them last night about the meeting in case they wanted to avoid more 'freakishness' than they normal had to deal with. They had both come to the unspoken conclusion to not go anywhere. The strange young woman sitting on the stairs thought it was a minor form of attempted control. Thinking they could stop more 'freakishness' with their normal bluster. A soft dark chuckle escaped her lips at that thought. As if.

Very shortly the doorbell rang and N'ataya jumped up to answer it. Opening the door she met with the sight of an older lady in a deep forest green robe that almost resembled a dress. The girl watched the lady's face intently. She had learned she could learn a lot about a new person in the briefed moment when they first saw her current appearance. Aside from a slight frown and a tightening of the lips the older woman revealed nothing. 'A woman of good self-control' the young sorceress thought.

"I am Professor McGonagall. Are you Miss Potter?" The older woman's eyes briefly flicked to the younger's forehead almost as if she was looking for something. N'ataya knew she was looking for the lightning bolt scare above her right eye which was very carefully covered by concealer.

A frown crossed her face. Not many people knew of her old name and she really didn't like having to convince them to use her chosen name. She quickly smoothed over her features and smiled brightly at the professor. She made a mental note to find out why she had looked for the scar.

"Yes, but I prefer N'ataya or Taya for short. It has a special chosen meaning for me. Would you please come in so we can chat?" She stepped aside holding the door wide and gestured for professor to enter.

Professor McGonagall stepped inside and let herself be led to the sitting room past some very grumpy looking muggles. It took all of her years of experience of talking to muggle families not to blanche at the sterile and overly flowery décor. She perched on the edge of the sofa as the young lady sat in an opposite arm chair with ease. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the lady of the house frown almost as if she didn't think the two witches were good enough to be in her sitting room. McGonagall made a similar mental note to try and figure out what was going on with these muggles.

"What questions did you have Taya?" The professor started with customary Gryffindor directness. Thinking nothing else could startle the hardened professor about this situation she turned her full attention toward the girl and finally took in the girl's appearance. She was shocked by the person in front of her. She just managed not to gap at the end of her comment.

Pointed ears, Snake bite lip piercings, revealing muggle clothes, vibrant purple eyes, and magical tattoos. All the visuals accompanied by a brazen air of complete control. She could swear she could also see some strange scars on the girl's upper left arm. Nothing about this young lady said muggle raised witch just starting to understand her abilities. Also, very little spoke of Lilly Evans or James Potter except perhaps the attitude.

The first question almost had the old professor chuckling at its Gryffindor brazenness. "What can Hogwarts offer me over continuing with a non-magical education and continuing to do my own research?"

"Hogwarts is the oldest of the three European schools of Magic. It is also generally considered to have a more well-rounded curriculum. Beuxbatons in France is more focused on 'softer' magics, Transfiguration and Defence against the Dark Arts are not as strong a focus. Durmstrang whose location is kept secret emprises more dark arts than is generally acceptable by common people."

"J'ai toujours apprécié la culture française. Je ne voudrais pas étudier à l'étranger." (I have always enjoyed French culture. I wouldn't mind studying abroad) The young girl smirked as she rattled off the French phrase causing a raise eye brow from the Scot a crossed from her and a sputter from her guardian.

"Une réunion peut être organisée si vous voulez." (A meeting can be arranged if you would like.) McGonagall stated back calmly. Her accept may not have been as clean but she knew enough to manage. She would not like losing this girl and everything she did or could represent. However, she would not stand in the way if that was the girl's choice.

"No need for an introduction right now but thanks for the offer. By Transfiguration do you mean transmutation?" She quickly shifted back to the Queen's speech. She was starting to get interested in all of this here was someone who knew about magic.

McGonagall nodded, "That term can be used for my mastery but is not the general term for it." She noted another scoff coming from the dining area and looked over seeing the two witches where both being watched by the overly large man sipping at his now empty tea cup.

The young lady smiled and then looked directly at her guest and realised she had gotten distracted from her original question, "As fascinating as that is before I let myself get too distracted. Can you finish answering my question? Why shouldn't I just continue self-teaching myself?"

"Let me ask you this first, how many spells do you know now and how long did it take you to figure them out?" She knew a decent number of new students from magical homes picked up 2 or 3 spells from their parents, but it wasn't unheard of for muggle raised children to have figured out some as well. The next words the young girl said shocked the old teacher.

"I have two dozen in my grimoire. I put the first one in there about two and a half years ago."

That simple and calmly delivered statement caused the old Scotswoman to sputter briefly before regaining her composure, "fascinating. As for why you should attend each semester you will be taught dozens of new spells each term. As well as magical plants, celestial bodies interaction with your magic, and potions. Perhaps if you choose to attend Hogwarts you could show me your research."

Before Taya could ask her next question, Vernon's sputtering irrupted into a coherent statement.

"I WILL NOT PAY YOU CRACKPOTS TO FILL HER HEAD AND THOSE BOOKS WITH MORE GIBBERISH!"

Before Minerva could even response the girls eyes flared and shifted from bright purple to emerald green, her left hand made a half circle gesture and closed into a fist. "Quildë!" The old professor did not understand the word said but she could see the clear effects of a silencing charm. Turning back to the girl in front of her she could see her anger dissipate just as fast as it had come up.

"I apologize for my rude guardian. He does bring up a good point, how am I to pay for school? He obviously will not."

"Tha' is easy enough" her Scottish brogue slipping passed her amazement at this almost eleven year old display of easy wandless magic. She pulled out a small key from a pocket in her robe. "This goes to your trust vault your parents left you."

"Really?" the girl whispered as she reached for the key. Maybe parents had left her something worthwhile. Minerva couldn't help but notice for the first time during this interview Taya actually looked like the almost eleven year old she was.

Professor McGonagall decided now was a good time to risk ask the important question brought up at the beginning of the interview, "So do you wish to attend Hogwarts?"

Just as quickly the glee left Taya's face and that controlled but rebellious child was back, "I think I would like that very much." Taya new she had slipped and let her control slip. Luckily, McGonagall seamed nice enough and her guardians where still to flustered with her silence spell.

Taya reached into an inside pocket of her vest and pulled out her school letter, flipping to the equipment list, "Where can we get all of these items? Can we go now?" She was feeling that burning desire to research and create. Her need for answers had never left her since her seventh birthday. She had just learned to channel it productively.

"Yes we can go now and the place is called Diagon Alley." The professor stood and indicated they should head out now. Upon the still silenced and very outraged man, McGonagall turned to the young lady beside her and assumed her mildest lecture tone, "You should end the spell and you really shouldn't be doing magic outside of Hogwarts, especially on muggles." However, the old professor was curious to see another display of this child's wandless magic.

The pointy eared girl sighed before she slashed her hand sideways and muttered, "Tyel-Ista." Before continuing to the front door. As she walked by she turned to the other lady and simply asked, "What's a muggle?" As soon as she cast her counter spell she could immediately hear her uncle start sputtering again but she tuned him easily.

"You have been calling them non-magicals. It's a term used to describe non-magical people and items." McGonagall was not shocked by the display this time but the amount of quiet power this girl exuded was noticeable. She also finally noticed what was seared into the girls left arm. It took everything the Scotswoman had not to demand answers then and there. With that final shock and simple statement the two girls where off to shop.

AN: thanks for reading my first attempt at a fanfic for this sight.