I just have a few notes before we dive in.
Some of these chapters will be a bit like song fics, as almost all of this story was inspired by music. I'll be sure to give credit where credit is due of course. Please please please send me feedback on how this is sounding and tell me if you catch any discrepancies or mistakes. When I started writing this fic, I hadn't even finished reading Book 4 so there might be some minor quirks. It's a bit of a Mary-Sue, just to warn you, but I hope you can excuse that and enjoy the fic.
Disclaimers: I do not own anything you recognize. As for what you don't... Satsobek Malinza and her family, as well as Heket the falcon all belong to me. ::Puffs up:: Mine I tell you! Mine!
Rating: It will be mostly PG to PG-13 through out this story. It's mostly for rather adult themes. Satsa is a bit of a seductress. There is the occasional snog as well as a random stream of explicit cursing here and there. There might even be a little blood... who knows? So now that the formalities are out of the way... on with the show!
Chapter 1: Good News
The pits of an archeological dig marred the sandstone surrounding the step pyramid of Saqqara. A dark figure sat in one of these cavities crouched over something she was scratching out of the stone. Her black working dress pooled around her, its hem occasionally fluttering in the dry breeze. Her raven dark hair blended almost exactly with the dress, making it almost impossible to determine where her tresses ended and the material began.
Suddenly, she turned her coal black eyes towards the west where the sun was balancing on the edge of the horizon. She could have sworn she heard the flutter of tiny wings but out here in the middle of the desert? Surely that post owl hadn't flown all the way to London and back that quickly.
She shook her dark hair out of her face and looked back down at her work in the floor of the pit. She had the lower jaw and left orbital socket of a bleached skull scraped out of the rock. Perhaps it was time she left the dig for today. It would be here tomorrow of course. She had seen many a wondrous thing in these ancient lands but she had yet to see the dead get out of their graves and scamper away from a dig. She covered the fragile bones with a thick canvas blanket and gathered up her notebooks, before climbing out of the shallow pit.
The girl, who appeared to be no older than fifteen, made her way around the step pyramid toward camp, taking time to admire the fiery sunset as she went. She was tall for her age but not intimidatingly so. Her slender, but shapely form was silhouetted by golden sun as it sank below the sandy horizon. Her dark skin seemed to glow in the dying light but her eyes gathered none of the warmth as she was thinking about how close the end of the digging season was.
She knew in just a few short weeks, school would be starting and she wasn't looking forward to it in the least. For the past four years she had attended Durmstrang and while she was not in want of friends there, the journey to the institute was a long one and the climate change took forever to get used to if she ever got used to it at all. Not to mention no one could pronounce her name, not even the teachers. She couldn't count the number of times she had corrected Professor Wilczek's pronunciation.
"Sat-so-bek"
"Saat-suh-beka"
"No! Sat-Long 'a'. So-as in 'so what'. Beck- like in Rebecca"
"Sate-soo-beak"
"Call me Satsa"
She sighed heavily as she climbed up the first step of the pyramid to watch the sun sink below the dunes, as she always loved to do before heading down to camp for dinner. She had sent an application of transfer to the British Ministry of Magic, hoping she could attend Hogwarts rather than Durmstrang in the following year. Satsobek had the distinct feeling that since she had only sent it last week and the start of term would be starting in less than a month, her request would be denied.
Satsa reached down and lifted a gold cat pendent on a leather cord from the gauzy folds of her dress. She stared at it, watching the golden light dance on its surface. Thinking of Hogwarts made her think of her mother. Her mother, Syah, had attended Hogwarts for her magical training and achieved the highest marks of her class, having been in Ravenclaw house. She had been inexplicably murdered only a year before Satsa had started school and this cat pendant was all Satsobek had to remember her mother by. She had given it to her only a few days before her death. Satsa had never known or wanted to know anything about her father, save that he claimed to be of pure wizard descent.
She let the cat fall back down around her neck as she watched the sun disappear below the dunes. She started to slide off the step when she heard it again, the flutter of wings, coming from behind her. She shoved herself down and turned to see was it was.
There, on the second step, was a stately barn owl. It hooted loudly and fluttered down to the next step, where Satsobek had been sitting. Satsobek looked down to its claws and saw that a letter was tied to its ankles. She reached out slowly, scars on her arms betraying her experience with desert falcon talons, and retrieved the letter.
Satsobek Malinza
First Step, Western Slope
Pyramid at Saqqara
Egypt
She blinked up at the owl, which was scratching at the sandy stone with a clawed foot as though it were waiting on her. Satsa then opened the letter, trying not to shred the envelope.
Dear Miss Malinza,
We, the British Ministry of Magic, are pleased to inform you that you are invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as an exchange student rather than return to Durmstrang. Hogwarts will be admitting you as a fifth year, as you have satisfactory marks in all your subjects in previous years. The enclosed parchment contains your school supply list as well as instructions concerning your arrival at Hogwarts.
Cordially,
Christophe Jenkins
British Ministry
Satsobek's face blossomed into a smile as she continued on to the second piece of parchment, which was her supply list and instructions. As she began to read the little own fluttered over and landed on Satsa's shoulder as if to read the parchment over her shoulder.
Books-
Potions and Notions By Camilla Crackle
Transfigurations - Year 5 By Kenneth Marks
Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5By Bathilda Bagshot
Defense Against the Dark Arts - Year 5By Jacob Mander
Unfogging the Future By Cassandra Vlatsky
Astronomy - Year 2 By Iris Krawler
Hogwarts - A History
Other Supplies
British issue wand
Hogwarts work robes (black standard)
Plain black hat
Advanced potions supplies
Standard telescope
Brass scales and cauldron (pewter, size five)
Parchment, quills, and ink
An animal (owl, cat, toad, ect)
Dress robes
We have received word in your transcripts that you are entering your second year as an Animagus. After the Sorting and Feast, proceed to Professor Dumbledore's office for further instructions regarding this.
You are to board the Knight Bus in two weeks, on Sunday, August 28th bound for King's Cross Station in London, where you will be greeted by a group of our students. I look forward to meeting you in a few weeks.
The parchment was signed by the deputy Headmistress, M. McGonagall.
Satsobek's stomach lurched with excitement. She quickly tore a piece of paper from her notebook and began to scribble a response in the dimming light.
Dear Headmistress,
I am delighted to be accepted to Hogwarts. I am looking forward to meeting you and furthering my educational pursuits.
Satsobek Malinza
Satsa attached the message to the owl's leg with the string from the letter from the British Ministry and sent it off. She hoped the owl knew where it was going as she watched it soar into the slowly darkening sky. Even if it didn't it wasn't terribly important.
A cool puff of breeze from the east signaled that it was time to head back to camp.
"Heket!" Satsa called out suddenly as she gathered up her things and began to make the walk back to camp. A desert falcon swooped down silently from the apex of the pyramid and landed on Satsobek's shoulder as she strode briskly across the cooling sand. She couldn't wait to tell her sister the news. She had wanted Satsa to attend Hogwarts as well. She would be proud even though she was a Squib, which was a fact that had been kept under tight wraps. Satsobek and her entire family had always prided themselves on their incredible magical power. Satsobek herself was studying to be an Animagus and she had already performed many transformations. She knew her family's power was derived from pure blood going back generations. It had always been a great mystery to the family why Satsobek's sister was a Squib. No one really knew.