Tansy sat by the train window, watching the landscape sweeping by; fields full of summer crops and livestock and the houses, with their doors and windows flung open in the July heat. Her mind was full of questions but the train was busy and she didn't feel comfortable talking so she sat in silence, chewing nervously on her bottom lip. The Professor sat opposite her, reading a magazine called Transfiguration Today. It wasn't until Bristol Parkway when the majority of the other passengers disembarked, leaving the two of them alone in the carriage, that the deputy head finally looked up from her magazine and spoke to the child.
'How long have you lived in that children's' home, Miss Laverstock?'
Tansy glanced quickly around the carriage to make sure that they were really alone before she spoke hesitantly.
'Only for about two months… I was moved from my last foster placement after I jumped out of the upstairs 4window...' Tansy suddenly realised that she'd said too much and blushed heatedly. She shuddered as she remembered the situation and hurriedly told a white lie, trying to cover up her mistake. '...they thought I was trying to hurt myself or something but I only did it because I knew that I would just fly slowly to the ground… it's difficult to explain but I knew it wouldn't hurt because when Lester pushed me out the day before, after I broke his remote control car-thing, I landed on my feet and…' Her nerves and desire to take control of the situation had made her babble and she ran out of breath and had to stop, gasping as if she'd just resurfaced from being submerged under water.
The woman's eyebrows rose slightly and she looked down a little disapprovingly at the girl, but now that Tansy had started speaking, she didn't seem to be able to hold in the question that was bothering her the most.
'Is...? Were...? I mean my parents; were they a witch and wizard?' She stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.
'As to that Miss Laverstock, I'm afraid that I can't give you a definite answer; you've had relations in the wizarding world that's for sure but…' Professor McGonagall was interrupted by the arrival of the ticket collector. She withdrew a wad of twenty pound notes and paid for the two of them whilst Tansy chewed nervously on a fingernail. The Professor waited until the woman had disappeared through the sliding doors at the end of the carriage before she continued.
'As I was saying; your relations have left you a bank account at Gringotts wizarding bank which is controlled by the Ministry of Magic until you reach the age of seventeen. Five hundred galleons will be transferred to a current account every year for your school supplies and anything else that you may need.' The woman reopened her magazine and began reading again, leaving Tansy with hundreds of new questions running through her mind.
Her parents, or one of them at least, must've been a part of the wizarding world. There was no other explanation that could explain why there was no record at all of them on any of her paperwork back at the children's home. Tansy might only be ten years' old but she knew how the system worked and every other child had the names of their birth mother written in their file. She'd always known that there was something different about her and this thought had only intensified over the years.
It was early afternoon before they reached London Paddington and then they caught an underground tube into the centre of the city. Tansy hated the crowded and claustrophobic atmosphere on the tube and the way that they jolted and rattled through the dark tunnels. Twice the Professor asked her if she felt alright but the carriage was crowded and Tansy felt far too uncomfortable and panicky to give a verbal response so she simply nodded in reply and hoped that it would suffice. She concentrated on breathing evenly, trying to slow her galloping heart and was more than thankful when they finally climbed up the broken escalator and out into the fresh air of a busy London street; although there were still far too many people for comfort, at least they were now in the open.
They had surfaced opposite a small, grubby-looking pub which nobody else seemed to be able to see; the afternoon shoppers seemed to look straight through it as if it wasn't there at all and Tansy wondered suddenly if she was going slightly mad: She could simply be having a vivid hallucination or… Tansy's mind suddenly flicked back to the present because they had entered the dingy pub. She had to wait for her eyes to adjust but, when they did, she was blown away by the strangeness of what she saw; among others there was a man wearing a long, flowing purple and blue striped robe who was reading a book which was hovering in mid-air in front of him, and a woman with a top hat who was stroking a large, bright-blue ball of fluff that was emitting a low humming sound. Tansy was so enthralled that she didn't notice that she had stopped moving until the Professor pulled her firmly by the arm and led her out into a small brick court-yard where she removed her wand and tapped firmly on a brick in the wall.
The brick wriggled backwards and a hole appeared which grew bigger and bigger as more bricks twisted out of the way. On the other side, a wave of noise and colour seemed to engulf them: They had walked through into a street filled with the bustle of witches and wizards going about their shopping and also the most interesting shops that Tansy had ever seen. She gazed around, her mouth hanging open in amazement, and the Professor was forced take her by the arm again or she would have been left behind. It was only when they entered the cool entrance hall of a large, white-marble building that she stopped walking again, staring open mouthed at the strange creatures that flanked the door on either side. The Professor saw where she was looking.
'They're goblins,' she explained, in a low voice.
Goblins. There were goblins in The Hobbit, huge, horrible things that revelled in death and misery. But these things looked and behaved completely differently from how she'd imagined the ones in her story and although she kept close behind the Professor she didn't feel threatened by these creatures, despite their strange looks.
The Professor led Tansy over to a counter and began to talk to the goblin sat behind it. Tansy lost track of the conversation for a while because she was too busy looking around and she only resurfaced when she was handed a small golden key and led out of the hall to a cold stone passage. They climbed into a small cart, which took them deep underground where her earlier claustrophobia seemed to return with a vengeance; she thought that she could feel the weight of thousands of tonnes of rock pressing down on her and barely listened to the explanation of wizarding currency that she was being given by Professor McGonagall because she felt so stifled and short of oxygen. She was extremely relieved when they finally filled a small bag with coins and made their way back up to the light and air. She knew that she'd been on the verge of passing out.
After that the day just seemed to get better and better; they bought so many wonderful things including spell books, potion ingredients, ink and parchment, a pewter cauldron and a huge trunk on wheels to carry in all in. Finally, when there were only a couple of things left on the list, the Professor turned to Tansy and said that she needed to send a letter at the post office. Tansy waited outside in the sun and opened one of her new spell books; A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration, which was so interesting that Professor McGonagall had to shake her by the shoulder to say that it was time to go and buy some school robes.
They entered a shop called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and a friendly-looking woman swept over to them in a burst of mauve coloured silks and scarves.
'Ah Minerva, Hogwarts I presume? Ah they seem to get smaller every year don't they? There you go my dear, up on to a stool and we'll fit you out. You must be the smallest we've had this year.'
Tansy climbed onto the stool with a grimace; she knew she was small but that didn't mean people needed to fuss about it! It was embarrassing enough that she still wore size six to seven jeans at nearly eleven years old!
The woman pulled a black robe over her head and shrank it with a wave of her wand until it just brushed the tops of Tansy's shoes. She then waved her wand again and the robes flew off the girl and another set took their place. It didn't take long for her to fit three sets of black school uniforms and a pair of smart black boots and soon they were back out in the sunny street with only a wand left to buy.
Tansy looked up at the Professor timidly and cleared her throat. This was about as much noise as she was prepared to make in the busy street. She withdrew the school list out of her pocket and pointed to the final paragraph:
Students may also bring an Owl OR a Cat OR a Toad.
Ten minutes later she left the magical menagerie carrying a tiny tabby kitten in a basket, thrilled to her very core; she loved cats but she'd never stayed at a place that kept them. Even so, she had always made a point of speaking to them every time she came across one in the street.
They walked up the wizarding street to Ollivanders wand shop and a small tinkling bell, suspended in mid-air above the door, rang as they walked in.
'Here to buy your first wand?' A soft voice enquired. Tansy jumped and looked around, unable to locate the owner of the voice. To her surprise, a man appeared on a moving ladder, about six feet off the floor. 'What's your name child?' Tansy gulped but didn't answer and the Professor stepped in.
'This is Miss Laverstock.'
'Laverstock? Now that's interesting…' He seemed to be talking to himself and he continued muttering as he clambered down off the ladder. He turned his back on them and rifled through a shelf overflowing with long, narrow boxes. Finally he placed a thin wooden box on the weathered counter-top in front of her.
'Ebony and unicorn tail hair. Ten and a half inches. Springy. Go on, give it a wave.' Feeling slightly apprehensive, Tansy picked it up cautiously. The polished wood was slippery under her fingers and she grasped it tightly, a little afraid that she might drop it. She took a deep breath and gave the wand the smallest wave that she possibly could.
Sudden warmth flushed through her from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes and a fountain of pink and silver sparks almost hit the wand-maker in the face. As Tansy took a step backwards in alarm, a daring thought flashed across her mind. Remembering one of the spells that she had read earlier in her new spell-book, she pointed to the quill beside her on the counter and thought the words of the spell.
'Lignum graphis.' To her surprise, it changed instantly into a normal wooden pencil, complete with a rubber on the end.
Both the adults looked almost as shocked as she did that the spell had actually worked.
'Did you intend to cast that spell?' The wand maker asked. Tansy nodded a little sheepishly and felt herself starting to blush. 'But why did you decide to attempt the spell nonverbally?' He continued and Tansy shrugged, not quite sure what he meant. 'A natural; I've never seen the like. That was an impressive first piece of magic child; I can see Transfiguration being your field.'
Tansy paid eight gold galleons for her wand and they left the shop and walked back up the street, through the pub, and into the normal world beyond. Professor McGonagall put her on the train for Cardiff after giving her instructions and a thick parchment ticket for the school train on the first of September. Tansy fell asleep before the train had even left London, tired out after the best day of her life.
Hope you enjoy. Please let me know what you think.
