Clunk, clunk, clunk, the sentry's footsteps echoed around the empty hallway of the orphanage.
I lay on my cot, fists clenched. Sometimes my fist acts before my brain and gets me into situations that are best left alone. Like this morning, when I stole the donuts and attacked the officers. I guess the officer I kicked in the face was some big hot shot with some title like police chief or something idiotic like that. I mean, how can someone be the chief when they can be beaten by a sixteen-year-old who hadn't eaten in two days and had been sleeping on a park bench for the last week and a half!
Anyway, after getting his ass kicked he issued some wide alert for me, something about me being deranged and seriously unbalanced. I guess with these claims it means they can bring out a special arsenal of weapons, like a fucking tranquilizer! How in the world is that a fair fight?
And now here I am. Aching all over from being tossed, semi-unconsciously into a police car, and trying to figure out how to escape this prison for orphans. Really, it was a prison. If it wasn't, why then was there a guard making sure no one was out past lights out and bars on the windows? They tell you the guard and the bars are for peopling trying to get in, but they're lying because, who the hell would want to break into an orphanage?
Still, if they are trying to prevent people from escaping, they do a shoddy job of it. Take Subject A for example. Here I am slipping past the bored guard as he scratches his ass, apparently thinking he's alone.
The entrance doors were just around the corner, when I heard someone talking from a nearby office.
"Yes I will send someone to fetch her right now if you'd like. She came to us recently, quite a naughty child, or so the rumors are."
I frantically looked about trying to find a place to hide, as the door of the office opened quickly. Frantic, I saw that there was no hiding place nearby, the entrance doors were too far away, and the guard was the other way.
"And what are you doing out here?" The guard hurried up to me just as a man stepped from the office.
The guard grabbed me roughly and gripped my arm tightly as the man watched from the open office door. I cursed silently; just when I was about to escape they had to catch me!
"Just the girl I was looking for." The man sneered at me. I recognized as the director of the orphanage when I had come in this morning. "The ruffian who just arrived, the one who refused to give her name. But these kind people say they know you." The man's voice was sharp and unpleasant to the ears.
The guard started leading me towards the room. Knowing that there would be no way to escape, I decide I didn't want to be dragged into the room. A power surged up my toes, to my torso, and then through my arm. The guard yelped and released my arm. His hand had an ugly, red burn upon it.
I entered the room, head held high, leaving behind the now swearing guard. In the office stood two men. Both looked quite uptight with their sharp, expensive looking suits, and their slicked-down hair. Rich folk? What the bloody hell could they want with me?
"We would like you to leave us be. This is a private conversation." One of the men stated snidely, his eyebrows raised at the director, as though daring him to disagree.
"Of course," the director answered, clearly displeased, but seemingly not inclined to have a dispute. He left the room, slamming the door shut.
I raised my own eyebrow at the two men, waiting for them to speak.
"What's your name girl?" The smaller of the two men asked, his tone clipped and as cold as the icy room.
"If you really do know me, you should know it!" I shot back at the man, my eyebrow still raised.
"We have been looking for you for quite awhile. You're good at alluding capture." The second man's voice startled me. It was kind and quiet, compared to his companion's voice.
"Really…" I was doing nothing to help them out. They obviously had no idea who I was, probably just after something I had robbed from them. Besides, I was still pissed that they were the reason that I had been caught sneaking out.
"Ah, Miss Ryan, at last." I whipped around, immediately on my guard. Never had someone been able to sneak up on me without me realizing they were there. And he knew my name… That could mean nothing good.
A tall man stood in the doorway. Funny, I thought the door had been closed. The man had long silver hair and beard. He was wearing an odd assortment of clothes. Pointed boots, a purple pair of pants, and a maroon blazer.
"You may go Blitzer, good to see you Calvin." The nicer of the two men nodded to the new man and left. The other man glared, but followed Calvin all the same.
"How did you know my name?" I asked, sharpness apparent in my voice and my eyes narrowed. I had been told that this look tended to make people share their darkest secrets, but the man in front of me seemed unfazed and somewhat amused.
"Why we have been looking for you for quite awhile. I was actually surprised when I was informed you had been found. I hear you're good at alluding any sort of capture." A twinkle showed from the man's eye.
"That makes two of us," I muttered quietly.
The man chuckled and sat down in a chair. "I'm sure you are wondering who I am and what I'm doing here?" He continued, not waiting for my answer. "I am Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster at a school for people with unique talents. It has become apparent to many that you have quite a gift, the type that is surely welcomed at my school."
I stared at him, confused, but still on guard. "I don't intend to go to any old school, I'm not usually welcomed there."
"Ah, but my school isn't like any normal school. We do not teach things like Geography and English. Instead, we teach our students magic! You, my dear, are a witch."
I couldn't hold back the laugh that burst to my lips. "Are you insane?" At the same time, I couldn't help think of the conversation I had had a few weeks ago.
"You're a witch?" He said, sounding very confused.
"Now there's no use calling me names. I just returned your wallet and I usually don't do that."
"How did work the map? If you're not a witch?" He looked utterly gobbsmacked.
Hadn't that boy, Sirius was his name, called me a witch?
The man, Dumbledore, chuckled at the befuddled look on my face. "Against popular belief my dear, I am not insane. This must be befuddling for you to hear and it most certainly must be hard to believe."
"No, it actually isn't," I was surprised at my answer, but, as I said it, I knew it was true. "I always knew there was something different about me, I could always do weird things."
Dumbledore looked slightly startled at my answer, but smiled all the same. "What kinds of things?" I just shrugged as he continued. "I have come to offer you a place at my school. There, you will learn to properly control your magic."
"Why does it have to be controlled?" Damn me and my curiosity. I shouldn't be listening to crazy things like this. I should be thinking of a way to get out of this place, not actually being intrigued by what this Dumbledore man was telling me, it was all utter rubbish.
"We try to keep magic away from muggles, non-magical people. When it is controlled, then no one can get hurt. Our students usually start at the school when they are 11. A letter was sent to your house, but I assume you no longer call that place home."
My jaw tightened at the thought of my 'home'. The place where I had learned how painful it was to be beaten. "No, it will never be my home." Dumbledore just nodded thoughtfully.
"I would like you to attend the school if you would agree to that. Tuition will be covered and you can stay there all holidays if you would like. You'll need lessons to catch up with your classmates, but we can find you a suitable tutor."
My thoughts crashed together in utter chaos. This was my chance for escape, to leave the streets, to have a normal existence and finally live in peace. By agreeing to this was I, Asteria Ryan, really deciding to trust this man? I had never trusted anyone before. Yet, something about this man, made me trust him, might have been his blazer! What man, with dangerous thoughts on his mind, would wear a maroon blazer? Before my thoughts had become coherent I said,
"I'd like to go to this school. But… I have one condition."
"I think something can be arranged, if you insist." Dumbledore said with a nod.
"I don't want a tutor, I can learn fine by myself."
"I had a feeling you were going to say that." Then clapping his hands together, Dumbledore proceeded on, in business mode. "School started yesterday, but we still have time. I have taken the liberty of getting your books and supplies. Yet, you need a wand. Wands are used to control magic through. But, I have a strange thought. All these years when you've been doing magic, you've never once used a wand. How do you control the magic?"
I shrugged. "I can do things by just saying them."
"Well isn't that just fascinating. I have never heard of any witch or wizard doing full magic without their wand. May I see? Do you think you could turn this coffee into ice?" Dumbledore pointed to a cup of coffee on the director's desk.
"Easy. Ice," I muttered and the coffee turned to ice.
"That is very impressive, Miss Ryan. Well, you're almost seventeen and you're magic is highly advanced, so I think we shall put you in seventh year, even though you are a little young." Dumbledore beamed at her.
"Thank you… sir," I said, smiling for the first time in ages.
"I think we can go then. Come on, we shall go by apparition." Dumbledore took my arm gently and turned quickly.
I felt as though I were suffocating. Thick bands pressed from all around, and I could no longer tell if my eyes were opened or closed. Just as I thought I was about to faint, the bands relinquished their hold around me.
An owl's hoot could be heard nearby. Dumbledore had already started walking towards a great iron gate, while I gathered by bearings. This apparition thing was slightly unnerving, but I wasn't going to admit that to my new headmaster. I watched as Dumbledore tapped his wand against the gate and it creaked open.
"Come along Miss Ryan, we cannot be late."
I hurried to catch up with him; his legs were considerably longer than mine.
We entered the school through two giant doors. Rather quickly, Dumbledore introduced me to a rather bossy looking woman named Professor McGonagall. He proceeded into the hall while McGonagall followed close after. Another set of giant, wooden doors stood before use. Dumbledore pushed them open and strode through. Taking a deep breath, I pulled back my shoulders, held my head high and followed him in.
I swear that every single person's head turned my way. Two tables stood on either side of me. I slowly walked down the aisle between two of them. A horizontal facing table stood ahead of me.
Someone in the crowd of students, wolf-whistled. Ah, just like life on the streets, I relaxed slightly and lazily stuck my middle finger in the general direction of the miscreat.
"Miss Ryan! We do not allow that type of business here. And Mr. Black, I think we would all prefer if you kept your comments to yourself!" Professor McGonagall was bossy.
I was startled at the name. Black, Sirius Black. I glanced in the direction of where the whistle had come from but there were too many students. The room soon caught my interest more than the people. It was bigger and grander than any room I had ever been in before. It also looked like there was no roof, like the room just opened to the sky.
Professor Dumbledore smiled at me from his seat in the middle of, what I assumed to be, the staff table, as I walked up and stopped before it.
"Everyone," Dumbledore's voice quieted the room, which at my entrance had grown quite loud. "As you can see, we have a new student joining us. This is Asteria Ryan, and she will be a seventh year. Miss Ryan, if you will…" Dumbledore indicated a stool with an old hat upon it that stood where everyone in the hall had a clear view of it.
I slowly walked over to it and placed it on my head. Wary, that this was some sort of ambush, lead me on and then kill me. Hoping it wasn't I let the had fall over my eyes. I gripped the switchblade in my pocket. I wasn't about to go around unarmed, even with these weird powers I supposedly had.
"You can let go of that knife. No one's going to hurt you." I jumped about a foot in the air. The hat was talking!
"That is a extreme amount of power you have, Miss Ryan. I haven't see this much since Dumbledore himself. Though, this kind of power isn't always used for the best purposes, neither was his…
"Now, where to put you? Hmm… I don't believe Slytherin would be a good choice. That could have some nasty consequences. Ravenclaw might do you well, but I don't believe brains are quite your thing. Hufflepuff…? No that wouldn't work, either. Must be… GRYFFINDOR!"
I pulled the hat from my head after what seemed like ages. The table to my left was clapping the loudest. Assuming that that was the table I had just been assigned, I set the hat down and walked quickly to the table. I sat down as far away from anyone else as I could. A movement caught by eye as I took my seat. Hundreds and hundreds of plates of food had just appeared before me. More food then I had ever seen in my entire life. With wide eyes I scooped everything within reach onto my plate and started gobbling it down.
"Hungry much?" I turned to see a boy sliding into the seat next to mine.
I promptly stopped eating.
"I'm Sirius. Sirius Black." It was the kid that had whistled at me when I had entered the Great Hall. And the same one that I had stolen from this summer.
Turning back to my food, I ignored him. He seemed completely befuddled by my lack of attention and watched as I finished the pile of food on the plate.
When I had finally seemed to stop eating, Sirius apparently thought it was ok to talk some more. "So, what school did you go to before this one?"
I knew the kind of boy that Sirius was. It was apparent from the way that he thought I would actually answer him. And from the way ego and confidence seemed to ooze off of him. Ego was one trait that I absolutely could not stand. Noticing that students were starting to exit the Great Hall, I stood up and followed them out.
"Hey, wait up!" Sirius ran to keep up with me. "Someone's got to show you where to go.'
"I can find it fine by myself."
Why was this boy trying to get me to talk to him? No one had ever really tried before… besides the police. He obviously hadn't recognized me from the incident in the park. I guess I might look different. They had cut my hair and given me a shower back at the orphanage. Like the saying goes, you can take the girl away from the street, but you can't take the street away from the girl, which was apparent because of the fact that I had already stolen Sirius's wallet and what I assumed was his wand when he was sitting next to me at dinner.
"Ah, so you aren't mute." I was about to retort with a snappy comment when someone spoke.
"Well, well, well… a new mudblood! How fun!"
A very large boy stood in front of us. Two boys stood beside him. They would have looked like bodyguards, had they not looked so wimpy and extremely pathetic.
"Don't call her that!" Sirius hissed.
"Oooo, defending her, aren't you, Black!" The boy spat Sirius's name as though it was something particularly nasty in his mouth.
The two boys continued bickering like children, while I just walked away. I would have gotten away, had not one of the boy's cronies noticed me.
"Hey Knott, she's getting away!" His voice was low and slow, as though he didn't know how to talk.
"Oh no you don't, mudblood." The boy turned towards me and thrust his wand in my neck. "How about you learn to respect you elders"
"I think not," I answered coolly. These boys were babies compared to what I had to deal with on the streets. "You happen to be too close for comfort!" With a small smile and the flick of my fingers the boy was blasted against the wall behind him. He fell unconscious to the floor; his wand crushed beneath his fat bottom. "Opps, so sorry." And I continued walking down the corridor.
"How the bloody hell did she do that? I didn't see her wand." I turned back and gave the boy and his three friends broad smiles before turning around and disappearing around a corner. I could get used to this school…