Changeling Child

Summary: Abandoned at birth, a young witch was found by gypsies. Her Hogwarts letter? Received and ignored. At the age of sixteen, what happens when the war starts spilling over the edges? And what if Harry Potter wasn't the Prophesied Child … but Titillanda Darkstar?

Disclaimer: Must I bother? No my name isn't JK Rowling and I don't own Harry Potter – if I did, why would I be writing lowly stories for the internet if I were richer than the Queen of England?

Author's Note: This chapter has been edited heavily. If you are a follower of this story, then I highly recommend re-reading the whole story, as I'm changing little bits here and there – it still has the same story line, but phrased in a different way.

If you're new to this story, however, just sit back and enjoy the show. Plus, remember that the rest will make absolutely no sense until I edit those parts too.

And Dead Paw informed me quite a while ago that the word 'gypsies' was offending, so I've changed that. Apologies to anyone I insulted, I am so sorry.

Sorry to those who

And I've also changed the title of the whole thing.

Hope you enjoy the new and improved Titillanda Darkstar… hem hem, I mean, Changeling Child!

God, I sound like Umbridge…

Prologue: It Begins…

It all started on a cold night. A ragged woman holding a one-year-old baby looked around fervently and vanished with a pop.

The next morning, a traveller named Melinda Jawk woke up and did the usual ceremony of getting her breakfast and moving over to feed the baby.

She screamed.

Where there had previously been her Harry, a dark-eyed girl looked up at her from the cot.

"What is it, what is it?!" Tanya Kirk, her best friend, asked as she shot up the step to the caravan.

"A devil child!" Melinda shrieked. "Harry has gone! I have been cursed!"

"Sanctus Espiritus! Come to me! Speak to me! Reassure me!" Melinda cried out. "My life has disappeared, for there is no life without love! Bring him back!" she screamed to the winds.

'You will live on… you must love the one who was given… she has the fate of the world on her shoulders… you must save her from the destiny she surely would have if I had left her where she was…' the Holy Spirit whispered to her.

'And don't break her wand.'

Dear Miss Jawk,

This is my daughter, Titillanda. I am sure that she will give as much joy as she gave me. She is my only child that I will ever have, so I want the best for her. I know that she will never have the life she would have had if she had stayed with me, but that is for the best.

You are my only hope. She is the Prophesised Child, yet that is not the doom I wish her to have. She must be strong, and the only way to achieve that is for her to be with the travellers I know will save her from the doom.

I enclose you her wand, the only thing she will ever know her mother for. Keep it, and her, safe.

Yours for ever more,

Flame Darkstar.

– — –

I know, I know, even shorter than the original, but ah well…

Most of the chapter is made up of the massive Author's Note at the beginning.