DISCLAIMER: Only Anilla is my character, all others are property of JK Rowling.
A/N: Harry's going to play an important part of the story, I just had to introduce Anilla first to get the plot rolling… and if you're interested in the story, please send me a note. I'd love to hear from you!
"Madame Pomfrey." Hermione finally looked up at the elderly witch. "I'm going to talk to Harry about this, but please don't tell anyone else. Not yet."
"What about the headmistress?"
"Yes, I'll speak to Headmistress McGonagall as well." Hermione paused. "And Ron. With his job in the Ministry, he may be in a position to help us find out more about her. But I think they're the only ones that need to know right now. No sense in jumping into conclusions."
"Hermione, who is this girl? Her eyes…" Madame Pomfrey shuddered.
"I wasn't sure, at first. It could have been a coincidence… she's on the list of potential Hogwarts students for the coming year. I only decided to check on her because of her last name. Riddle."
"But you don't mean..?!?" Madame Pomfrey gasped. "Is she related to Voldemort?"
"I'm not sure, but everything points to that being the case. Come on, let's head back to the school and I'll floo the others to set up a meeting."
"Hermione!" Harry looked up from his desk, where he had been looking over his plans for the next year. It was going to be the third year he taught DADA, and he was starting to get the hang of it. It wasn't too much different from the DA all those years back, except that he was able to distance himself from the happenings a little more and was able to take his time to teach now that there was no imminent danger. "Fancy seeing you at Hogwarts. I didn't know you'd made the trip over!"
"Hi Harry." Hermione smiled. It seemed like the change of pace had done her friend some good. He just didn't seem to be cut out for being an Auror after all those years fighting against Voldemort—it was a position too dependent on the opinions of others and the whims of politicians, and even if Harry had done so much fighting for the light, he certainly deserved a calmer life after his tumultuous childhood and teenage years.
"How are you? What brings you here?"
"I wanted you to come to a meeting with McGonagall and Ron."
"Sure." Harry said standing up and brushing his hair out of his eyes. "I have time now, if that works for the others." Hermione nodded and together they walked towards the headmistress office. Dumbledore had retired as Headmaster from Hogwarts and was now living peacefully in a small cottage in Godric's Hollow, serving as a consultant for the Ministry of Magic and helping McGonagall run Hogwarts. Even if it hadn't been his office for a few years now, it still felt weird for them to walk into the office and not find him there.
"Minerva, Ron." Harry greeted the others. They all turned to Hermione, and she cleared her throat nervously.
"Thank you for coming. It may be nothing, but I thought it only prudent to bring it to your attention." Hermione paused and looked around. "We may be expecting a rather—unusual—student this year. Her name is Anilla Riddle."
"Riddle?" Harry repeated, startled. His eyes narrowed. "Related to Tom Riddle?"
"I think so." Hermione continued quickly. "It's not just her name—her eyes… they're red like Voldemort's." She quickly told them the little that she knew. McGonagall nodded.
"We should learn as much as we can about her. Ron, if you could try to find out if anyone at the Ministry has any idea of the existence of the child—"
He nodded, his red hair gleaming in the light of the fireplace. "Why don't we just bring her in and ask her—"
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed in a shocked tone. "She's a child!"
"She may also be a threat that we need to watch out for. You don't want another Dark Lord, do you?"
"You can't blame her for Voldemort's actions." Harry said firmly. "As far as I can tell, she hasn't done anything—she hasn't even had the chance to do anything yet."
"Harry is right, Ron." McGonagall replied. "We need to be observant, but not judgmental." Ron muttered under his breath, then sighed.
"I know you're right, I'm just—being overly cautious I guess."
"Hermione, when are you going back to this orphanage?" Harry asked.
"In two days. I found out that the matron is leaving for a week on some religious conference, I thought it might be a good chance to talk to Anilla some more."
He nodded. "I'm coming with you."
Harry walked to the orphanage with Hermione. When they arrived, the door was opened by an elderly woman, dressed in a plain brown dress.
"Hello, may I help you?"
Hermione introduced herself and Harry as visitors for Anilla. The old woman nodded and motioned them to come in.
"Matron Akaris mentioned something about visitors for Anilla. I must say I'm intrigued, she doesn't usually receive any visits. Would you mind having some tea with me before you meet our young charge?" she asked as she walked them to the matron's office and motioned for a girl to bring them tea. "My name is Kari, and I've helped Matron Akaris with this establishment since she became the matron. I've been here long before Anilla joined us." She said as she sat down and motioned them to do the same. She smiled at them calmly as some of the elder children came in with tea and biscuits. "ah, there we go. It always makes such meetings more pleasant." She commented as they walked out and closed the office door behind them. "now, " she said, looking at Harry and Hermione inquisitively. "Why all this sudden interest in our establishment? Or is your interest in Anilla herself?"
Hermione looked over at Harry, not quite sure how much to say. Harry cleared his throat and leaned forward. "Does it make a difference?"
"Certainly." Kari replied. "It will determine what our conversation will be like. Matron Akaris is worried that you have come regarding those letters and are wishing to discredit our affiliation with the friars. If that is the case, then there are some things that I can clarify for you about Anilla's past and what the orphanage has done in this situation. However, if you're here purely in the interests of knowing about the child—my main concern is her protection." Her eyes grew hard. "She may not be the best of children, but she is a child."
"I'm glad you see it that way." Hermione agreed quickly. "I wasn't sure after meeting Matron Akaris—"
Kari sighed. "Akaris often forgets that times are hard for the young ones."
"Let me assure you then, that we are here interested in the young lady, and not your affiliation with the friars." Harry said.
Kari pursed her lips, raised her eyebrows and asked "Do you have something to do with those letters?"
"Well, we may know where they are coming from." Harry admitted slowly. They turned to watch as the elderly lady walked to the door and locked it. He raised an eyebrow and was about to ask when he caught the woman's pointed look.
"Not another word." She hesitated as she stood in front of the door. "Now, you realize that I in no way represent this establishment or the friars?" Hermione and Harry traded looks and then nodded at her. What was this woman driving at? "Wands please." Kari smiled and motioned them to take them out. "I would like to see them, if you don't mind." She continued as Harry and Hermione hesitantly revealed their wands. "If it wouldn't be any trouble, could you make sure that no one can hear us?" Harry complied with some silencing charms quickly placed around the room. Kari seemed to finally relax as she walked back to the table smiling at her visitors. "Now, where were we?"
"You know about Hogwarts." Hermione whispered.
"Well, know of it, a little, yes. My grandniece received a letter like that not too long ago, I believe. Must say that finding out that magic was real was a real shock on the nerves. Never mind that my sister's son-in-law was a low-level wizard. Up to that point, we all knew his family was a little weird, but--" She sighed as she poured them some tea. "Anilla is a witch, is she? That explains a few things."
"What things?" Harry asked.
"I really should have noticed it." Kari mused as she sat back.
-----flashback-----
"Kari! Kari, look after that girl, she's starting a rampage again!" Akaris called, frustration clear in her voice.
Kari looked at the young matron with an indulging smile. The poor woman really had no idea what she'd gotten herself into when she agreed to take the girls on a trip to the museum. They might be better behaved than boys their age, but they were still children. She chuckled as she walked towards Anilla, the young five year old that had started to wander into a different exhibition.
"Anilla! Come on darling, don't get separated from the group!"
"Kari, Kari! Come look at this!" the young girl giggled as she pointed towards an exhibition of a mummified cat behind a glass display. "It's a really old kitty."
Kari smiled at the young girl with sparkling brown eyes. "Yes, it is. But don't you want to see the other exhibitions?"
"No, I want to play with the kitty."
"You can't play with the kitty, Anilla, it's old and they have it behind the glass so that others can see it." Anilla allowed herself to be pulled away reluctantly. Half an hour later, the group was looking at the exhibition of scrolls, although most of the girls found it quite boring. Except one. Anilla was standing in front of a particular section mouthing some words.
"Anilla, hurry or you'll be lagging behind and get Matron Akaris's attention again!" Kari nudged the girl away from the exhibit.
"Can we go back and play with the kitty?"
"Maybe on the way out."
As the tour neared its end, Anilla ran ahead of the others towards the mummified cat's display. She looked at it intently and started muttering a chant. When the others caught up with her, she didn't notice that the pitch of her voice had changed to a low rumble, or that the glass had started to vibrate.
"Anilla?" Akaris called. "Kari, get the girl, what is she doing—" The matron's eyes widened when she heard the girl's voice. Kari was too far back in the group, having been in charge of the stragglers to reach Anilla in time. One of the girls screamed. The mummified cat had started to move in its cage.
"Kitty!" Anilla said happily in her own voice as she stretched out a hand, but she was too short to reach the display case. "Kitty, come play!" The glass shattered and Akaris quickly grabbed Anilla out of the way of the falling shards.
"Anilla, what have you—" Akaris's voice lowered to a whisper when she saw the child's eyes. Their normal brown color had turned a dusk red. "Anilla, what's gotten into you?"
Another girl pointed at the cat, which had now jumped out of the cage and started to walk towards Anilla, and screamed. Akaris looked around and almost fainted at the sight of the cat walking towards her. She shook Anilla's arm and shouted.
"What have you done? What are you doing? What is this?" she yelled hysterically.
Anilla jumped at the matron's voice and the cat stopped moving with one paw stretched to take another step. A museum curator rushed over and stared at the scene, but the matron was already ushering her charges out and onto a bus, without a look back.
--------------end flashback--------------------------
"I think that would have been the first instance of anything weird happening around her. Before that, she was a normal baby---delightful, actually. She was left at the church's doorstep and the friars brought her here as a baby." Kari said sadly. "Unfortunately things escalated after that. There were stories about moving objects, nightmares, and even a couple of hallucinations. I don't know for sure, I wasn't here all the time. I just come by and help with the children when I can." Hermione nodded.
"Well, things had started to get out of control and she was starting to scare the other girls. Matron Akaris decided that an intervention was in order."
Harry's eyes narrowed. "What kind of an intervention?"
"Matron Akaris called the friars, prayed with them, and decided to call one of the higher-order priests to come and perform an exorcism." Kari looked at their appalled faces.
"They didn't know what to do, and it seemed to work. Nothing has happened since, except that her eyes have grown to be more red than they used to be. They no longer are brown, I'm sure you've noticed it." Hermione nodded. "The doctor came to check her afterwards and said she was all right. When he noticed her eyes, he came back the next day with a pair of tinted glasses. She's taken to wear them all the time now. I try to get her a new pair if she breaks the ones she has." Kari fingered her purse and withdrew a new pair of glasses. "I was about to go give them to her when you knocked on the door."