"Well I have to say that doctor quite simply must have been a bachelor and an eccentric one at that, because his dress sense was dreadful, fancy wearing a tee shirt with dress suit trousers and I do believe he has wellington boots on too.'' Jean Granger commented to her husband as she shut the door.
"What's a bachelor mummy" her daughter asked looking up from her book.
"A man that does not have a wife and children darling"
"No mummy, he has a wife and 2 children, he told me" Three year old Herminie said
"He told me he has Toby who is five and Tessa who is eleven and just started school."
"I think you mean Toby had just started" Jean smiled.
"Jean, he was an odd ball that's all" her husband sighed "now come and have lunch."
"IT WAS TESSA!" the child shouted, but her parents had already stopped listening.
"Well the top and bottom of it is; has he convinced our daughter that she cannot do magic and that those heavy pans that fell when the shelf broke would not have hit me if she had not been there? I mean I admit they landed in an odd place, but all the same…" She stopped speaking as their daughter walked in and climbed onto the dining chair and began to eat her shepherd's pie.
"Mr Abbotts said I was special" Herminie chimed in "He said I could do magic. I'm a witch!''
"Darling, witches and wizards are pretend, like fairies; dragons; unicorns; pixies and elves" Jean gently told her child
"I think Fairies are pretend" she conceded "but the others are real!"
"But ..." he mother started.
"She's three Jean let her believe" Christopher butted in. Not that he believed what he was saying but he did not wish to discuss the subject any further, their daughter was having enough trouble at Pre-school as it was. One of the other parents simply refused to come near Herminie and her daughter Alice screamed when Herminie played near her.
That evening after their daughter was asleep in her bed, Herminie's parents were talking with the TV on so that she would not think anything different if she were to wake up.
"She is different that's for sure" Jean started "When I take her to pre-school the other children find her odd, do you think she's autistic?"
"Absolutely not, she can interact with people alright and she is very bright, articulate and is interested in lots of subjects even gifted that's not autism."
"She'll be picked on at school even the children at Malvern street pre-school are wary of her, maybe we should home educate, I could give up work for a bit."
"No Jean, she will go to school we will get her into a small private school, we can afford it"
Neither one of them had noticed a silver tabby watching them though the patio window.
The next day while Jean was putting the washing in the washing machine with her daughter the doorbell rang, on opening it she was confronted by a Silver tabby cat who strolled in as though it owned the place. It seemed to look around then walked into the kitchen with Hermione in close pursuit. By the time Jean had checked the street to discover it empty and closed the door she had decided it was a strange hoax-how could cat ring a door bell? Walking into the kitchen however the cat was nowhere to be seen; she was instead faced by a stern looking Scottish woman with her hair in a tight bun, dressed in a tartan kilt with a warm woolly jumper that looked hand knitted along with thick tights, very sensible lace up shoes and a handbag. A little old fashioned maybe but appropriate to the weather Jean thought. She was also faced by a giggling daughter, who was laughing and saying; more magic, again, again just like those retched Telly- tubbies that Herminie used to watch with her gran.
"How may I ask did you get in?!" Mrs Granger asked checking the back door was locked then she picked up Herminie and held her close.
"I am Minerva McGonagall and I am a witch you let me in. I was the cat"
"Do you really expect me to swallow that, that … Hogwash Miss Gonigal" refusing to use the woman's first name
"It's McGonagall –now please sit down"
For some reason Jean Granger mother and part time dentist felt compelled to sit down rather than cause any trouble.
Minerva McGonagall sat down at the table and began to explain to Jean about a hidden world that was about to be revealed.
"We don't as rule inform the parents' of muggleborn magical people until the child is 9 or 10 as quite often without the knowledge or expectation, of magic that is, the magic is slow to show. However you daughter is quite obviously the exception. A friend of mine Mr Bernard Abbotts came to see you yesterday and he agrees that you need to know sooner rather than later"
"You mean that odd ball of a doctor that came yesterday?"
"Well yes he's not used to muggle clothing" Minerva smiled "We made the real doctor accept the invitation to a golf match and forget the appointment."
"Be the cat again please" Hermione asked too excited to help butting in.
"Later" the witch said with a very slight smile.
"NO! Change now if you really can'' Jean was close to tears-how could people be so cruel as to trick her precious child, this woman was a con artist at the least and a wicked woman trying to steal her child more likely. However for some reason she could not do as she would normally do and show this odd bod to the door and phone the police.
Minerva stood up and smiled, "Alright but just don't feed me fish I don't like it "she smiled at Hermione.
"Okay!" she replied.
The woman took an ornate stick from her bag said some gibberish and there was a Tabby Cat.
Jean fainted and Herminie fussed the cat!
At that moment her father unlocked the back door and came in.
"Hello daddy this cat is a witch"
"ENOUGH HERMIONE! –where is your mum?"
Jean began to come round and Minerva McGonagall became human again and Herminie yelled "Told you, told you, told you" while leaping round the room. Christopher helped his wife into a chair at the breakfast table and sat down himself.
Minerva, pulled out her wand soon 3 cups of tea and a glass of Robinsons squash along with a plate of delicate cakes appeared. She then explained how Witches and Wizards did exist; but were hiding their magic only using it behind closed doors or very covertly when in public. Indeed the head teacher of the local village school was a squib so there would be no need to send Herminie to a private school as Mrs Broom knew all about Herminie and the magic world seeing as her 3 sisters and two brothers were all persons of magic.
Then she spoke to Herminie "You must try hard not to make things happen darling and when you are ready to leave junior school you can come to Hogwarts and learn magic to your heart's content.''
Minerva then just vanished leaving a delighted three year old and two very surprised parents. The next day Jean went and got a silver tabby and called it Magic, as Mrs Barnett from across the road was a nosey woman and had seen her let a cat in the day before. However hard Herminie wished Magic stayed a cat. She did change colour from time to time though, but Herminie always turned her back before her parents found out what she was doing!
Halloween was always fun too as no one could work out where the water came from when Herminie played her trick.