Chapter 1- An old teacup that lead to a tall wizard
"Tea is ready, Emilia!" Came the voice of her mother, thickly coated in her Spanish accent, from the kitchen.
"I'm coming". Emilia finished fixing her hair and came down the stairs two at a time like she usually did. She wasn't surprised to see her parents had already left, the remains of the bright green flames produced by the floo powder still visible in the fireplace. What caught her attention was the old yellow teacup her mum had served her morning tea in, as opposed to the usual mug she used. At that instant said mug flashed bright blue an Emilia instinctively reached out for it as the kitchen around her started to blur. The last thought to cross her mind before she felt the floor under her feet disappear was "Thank god I decided to get dressed before coming down for breakfast!"
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The tall wizard was looking at his watch, any time now… THUMP!
A young witch, about 17 with long brown hair just landed a few feet away from her, holding a tattered looking teacup that had spilled most of it's content down the front of her muggle clothes. He lowered his wand, pleased that the portkey had worked and stood up to greet the young witch he had been assigned to protect.
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Luckily Emilia had realised the teacup was a portkey, and as she had used a few before, she managed not to fall over when she arrived at her destination. The room she landed in was slightly dark with an expensive look to it. "The Ministry" She muttered, before noticing the dark figure that stood to greet her.
"Emilia, I apologize for the way in which he have summoned you. it is essential for this operation to be carried out with..upmost secrecy". The wizard turned out to be a tall pale man with black shoulder length hair and piercing onyx eyes. "Your parents have been relocated and put under new identities as planned. Those identities will remain unknown, even from you, to minimise the possibility of them getting into the hands of the Dark Lord.I have been given the order to protect and look after you until you begin your school year at Hogwarts on the first of september"
Emilia listened to the mans low, almost whisper-like voice with stoic passiveness. Her parents were mugglelovers that had been removed from both her mothers and fathers families, they were also active muggle-supporter and anti-dark art campaigners. That set them up quite high on the list of people lord Voldemort wished to get rid of. So after the rumours of the return of the Dark Lord were confirmed, her parents had talked to her about how they would have to go into hiding before the school year started. Emilia, in turn, would have to go to Hogwarts school to do her last year of magical training and take her NEWTs, as carrying on with her homeschooling would obviously be impossible under those circumstances.
"I am afraid we cannot stay here long, the dark lord has ears everywhere and the ministry is no longer a safe place to talk of such things." He then extended his arm, Emilia grasped what that meant straight away and placed her right hand firmly on it.
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They apparated to a dark alley in a small muggle village "As I said before, we cannot be too careful, so we will be walking the rest of the way". He then made a quick wand motion that turned his black robe and cloak into a suit and coat of the same colour. "Luckily you are already wearing muggle clothing" He noted.
They soon reached their destination; a small and slightly dated brick house. Inside there was a small sitting room that had an air of neglect to it. Emilia, on the other hand, didn't fail to notice the sheer amount of books and potions ingredients that cold be found around the place. That brought a smile to her lips; literature and potion making were, after all, her two favourite things.
She then realised the man hadn't introduced himself. "My apologies. I am Severus Snape, although when the term starts you would better call me Professor Snape"
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A note from the writer: Information as to who Emilia's parents are and their background stories will appear in coming chapters, so don't worry if you are feeling a bit confused.