Author's Note: Akasanta, Merida - Thank you for your reviews! :-)
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe and the characters belong to J. K. Rowling.
oOo
Chapter 3: The New Girl In School
Seven years later
Albus Dumbledore apparated onto the empty street in Surrey, rather pensive as he took firm steps towards the whitewashed building in the adjacent lane.
And his thoughts pertained to two magical children who had been brought up in Orphanages.
The first was Lord Voldemort.
Not many people knew of Voldemort's childhood, which had been spent in a Muggle orphanage under his birth name of Tom Marvolo Riddle. And somewhere in the depths of his wise mind, Dumbledore knew that the years that Tom Riddle had spent in the Orphanage – years of lack of love and indifference – had played a significant part in the Tom's transformation into the fearsome, heartless Dark Wizard.
The second was a little eight year-old girl, whom Albus was now going to visit.
If people like Minerva McGonagall – who was one of the handful of people, who would sometimes question Albus' decisions – knew of Voldemort's childhood, they would certainly have thought that Albus had erred greatly in letting Acquila Black live in an orphanage.
Wasn't Acquila the daughter of Voldemort's right hand man, Sirius Black? What if spending her childhood in the orphanage – in indifference and apathy – made Acquila walk down Voldemort's path?
But Albus wasn't known as one of the wisest wizards of all times for nothing.
Acquila Black had an extremely important role to play in the final downfall of Voldemort. And Albus had taken measures to ensure that Acquila had been given a loving and caring upbringing, quite unlike what Tom Riddle had received.
Through Alastor Moody, who had inherited the McKinnon family fortune, Albus had ensured that a significant amount of money was annually being donated to the King Edward VII Home for Orphaned Children, where Acquila stayed. Moody had seen to it that the Orphanage authorities were aware that the grants were being made by well-wishers of Acquila, leading to the authorities taking proper care of her.
She had been brought up with ample love and care by the orphanage staff – far better than the upbringing she would have received if she had been raised by the Blacks.
But presently, he was going to the orphanage for a very different reason.
On the first of November, 1981, when Albus had taken Acquila to the orphanage, his acute magical senses had discovered something within the girl: an extremely powerful magical core.
Acquila would be an extraordinarily powerful witch when she grew up. But even more surprising was the magical bond within the child. Albus had sensed something within the child – a magical Bond with another soul.
And from what Albus knew – and he knew himself to be a lot more knowledgeable than the average witch or wizard – there was only one such Bonded couple currently in existence: Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel.
The Flamels were one of a kind, with an unbreakable connection existing within the two.
One soul, two bodies…two parts of the whole… two magical cores fused into one.
Albus smiled as he thought of the beautiful and unfathomable mysteries of Magic. It was strange, really, to share your soul with another person, to have another person be able to listen in to your thoughts, able to pull into your magic, to feel each and every emotion that coursed through your mind…
And if Albus' guess was right (like most of his guesses were), Acquila Black and Harry Potter would soon find themselves delving into the intricacies of their Soul Bond, plunging into the mysterious depths of the Magic that their Bond contained.
Albus still remembered the immense astonishment he had felt when Hagrid had first placed a fifteen month-old Harry Potter into his arms. The sleeping boy's very soul had been yearning and pining for the little girl that completed him. And it was against his better sense that Albus had separated the two children. He knew that they would have been better off having the other in close proximity. But sometimes, things needed to be done for the good of the wizarding world.
And separating the two children had not only ensured that the blood protection that Lily had cast on Harry remained active and protected the boy, but also that Acquila grew up with none of the qualities that the Blacks possessed – arrogance, self-importance, bigotry, blood supremacist beliefs and their inquisitiveness for Dark Magic.
But Albus also knew that if Harry and Acquila met directly at Hogwarts – where people would certainly ostracise her for being a murderer's daughter – her Dark background would probably push Harry away from her. And that wouldn't bode well for the Bond at all.
But if they met now (when he was sure they had noticed that they were a little different than other children), they would not only gain a friend who was like them, but it would also strengthen the Bond.
He walked upon the winding path, which led to the office of the matron of the Orphanage.
And he saw the lady seated in the office look up at him from the old-looking register that she was going through – no doubt wondering what the strange man was doing in her office.
She looked at him warily, indubitably curious about the old man with the long white beard, even longer white hair, the half-moon spectacles perched on his crooked nose, and donning the old-fashioned suit.
"How can I help you, sir?" she asked him.
"Good morning, madam," replied Albus with a genial smile. "I have come to speak to you about Acquila, the child who stays in your orphanage."
The lady took a deep breath.
Over the years, she had pondered over about the identity of the person, who kept pouring funds into the Orphanage, specifying that they were to be used for the upkeep of Acquila. Was this man, perhaps, the very well-wisher who annually filled the coffers of the orphanage?
She put aside the register, telling the strange man to have a seat.
"Hello, sir," she said politely. "Do you wish to see the child? I will call her right now, if you want—"
"No, madam," Albus cut her off. "I do not want to see the child. But I have come here to get her admitted to a primary school in the vicinity. I wish for her to receive a good education."
"But, are you related to the child, sir?" she demanded. No matter how many pounds the man donated to the orphanage, she wasn't one to flout the rules and procedure.
The man shook his head slightly, replying in the negative.
"If Acquila isn't your relative, may I know why you seem to be so interested in the girl? I assume that you are the person who donates money each year. May I know what your relation to her is? If you know anything about the child's relatives or her family, I need to inform the authorities who maintain a record of the children here!" said the lady firmly.
Albus smiled, not wanting any hassles with the Muggle authorities. And a quick wandless spell on the unsuspecting woman found her acquiescing with his request.
"You wish to admit her to a school? Why not? Just tell me which school you want Acquila to study in, and I'll take care of the rest!"
"Thanks you, Madam," smiled Albus, as the lady seemed to be transfixed by his merrily twinkling eyes. "May I ask how Acquila is? Is she a well-behaved child?"
"Acquila is a wonderful child! She is very loving, and a sensible girl—and the most intelligent child here! And she is a quick learner, too! And her curiosity? Jesus! The girl is full of questions! There hasn't been a single book in the library she hasn't read more than once!" exclaimed the lady, shedding all her previous formalness.
"I am immensely glad to know that," responded Albus. Acquila seemed to have inherited her mother's Ravenclaw tendencies, he thought.
"Does she get along well with the other children?" he continued.
The lady hesitated, but a little prodding later, she was spilling out her thoughts rather freely.
"Well, the children don't get on well with her," she said. "She's a lonely child. When she was younger, the other kids loved spending time with her. She used to read out stories to the younger children from the books that she read."
The lady frowned as she went on. "But as she got older, odd incidents started happening with her. And I'm sure she doesn't even have control over them! It started scaring the other kids…and no one wanted to be around her anymore."
"Incidents?" asked Albus curiously.
"Well, strange incidents," muttered the lady. "Once, we'd given all the children a sapling each. They were supposed to tend to them everyday. But the very first day itself, Acquila said that she wished her sapling would grow up and flower soon because she didn't have the patience to wait for a few months for it to grow. And the very next moment, the sapling shot upwards before my very eyes—and—and a single flower burst into bloom!"
The lady's eyes were wide, as if she was reliving the incident again. "The kids couldn't stop talking about what happened—and they concluded that whatever Acquila wished would happen, and she could use her powers to harm them. A couple of the kids…like Robin and Evie…they were rather jealous of Acquila because she got on so well with everyone…they added fuel to the rumours…convinced the other kids that Acquila was a freak… and slowly her friends started distancing themselves from her…"
Albus nodded, motioning for her to go on.
"Then, there was that other time," said the lady. "Andrew tried to snatch a book Acquila was reading. She was already upset that day…and she tried to pull the book back—but he's stronger than her, obviously. And she glared at him—and Jesus! The book flew out Andrew's hands and hit him right in his face! And—and I was there! Acquila did nothing! She swore she did nothing! And I swear I saw she did nothing! The book just—just flew out of his hands—on its own—however impossible that sounds! The poor child even cried after that, because she felt guilty for indirectly hurting the boy. But the kids blamed her for it," she sighed.
"I see," muttered Dumbledore. Acquila seemed to be quite a good witch, despite her tender age. And that boded extremely well for her future, and Harry Potter's, as well.
A few more words and the exchange of a few pounds later, a satisfied Albus walked out of the Orphanage. He had achieved what he had come forth to do – Acquila would be studying in the very school which Harry attended. And if all went well, they would befriend each other and help the Bond blossom; and in the process, begin walking on the path that led to the decimation of Voldemort for good.
oOo
Acquila skipped around in the backyard of the Orphanage excitedly. She would be going to school! A proper school! Where she could learn more about the world and, hopefully, make friends – friends who wouldn't mind the strange things that seemed to happen around her.
She had gotten ready an entire hour before she had to leave. Her long hair descended to her waist in an intricate braid, and her grey eyes shone with immense excitement. She was waiting impatiently for her teacher, Mrs. Ophelia Smith, to arrive so that they could leave.
And half an hour later, Acquila and Mrs. Smith were at the gates of the school.
"Enjoy your first day, dear! I'll be here to pick you up after school," said Mrs. Smith, waving Acquila a goodbye.
Acquila waved back to the lady, before she looked excitedly at the school building that loomed before her.
She took in the sights around her, observing everything minutely – the school building, the playground, the students walking through the corridors, the strict-looking teachers.
With the help of a senior student, she quickly found the directions to the classroom that she was supposed to be in. But as she neared the classroom, she stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening at the sight before her.
A group of children were gathered around in a circle: some of them whispering, some giggling, while some just standing with conflicting expressions on their faces, as if they wanted to intervene in whatever was happening but didn't have the courage to do so.
And suddenly, she felt an inexplicable force pulling her towards the scene of the commotion, her feet moving quickly of their own accord.
She made her way through the crowd, only to spot a skinny, bespectacled boy, who was shielding his face with his hands from three well-built boys, one of whom looked rather like a baby whale.
"Move your hands away from your face, freak! I want to punch your nose real hard!" said the whale-like boy.
Acquila had never been one who could stand watching in the sidelines when someone was being bullied. She knew she had to rescue the thin boy, even though she was hardly half the size of the enormous bully and his mates.
"Don't act like a coward, Harry," taunted the bully. "Stop shielding your face! I'll punch you anyway!"
"Stop that!" cried Acquila furiously, rushing towards the boys and standing in between the bespectacled boy and his tormentors.
"Go and find someone your own size, you bully!" she snapped bravely, staring up at the enormous boy who rather towered over her.
"How dare you speak to me like this!" shouted the baby-whale. "Do you even know who I am? No one yells at Dudley!"
She snorted with as much contempt as she could muster. And the bully – Dudley – seemed taken aback at that, probably shocked that someone was standing up to him.
"Who are you?" he demanded. "I've never seen you here before!"
"That's none of your concern," she retorted, standing her ground as Dudley advanced towards her.
"Watch your tongue, girl or I'll—" thundered Dudley, making to take another step towards Acquila.
But suddenly, he seemingly lost his balance and fell right on top of his friends, who groaned in pain as his enormous weight fell onto them.
The crowd started sniggering as Dudley struggled to get off the ground. Acquila thought the students seemed rather scared of laughing at the bulky boy.
Dudley struggled to get his massive girth off the ground, muttering threats under his breath, while the two boys on whom he had fallen, seemed completely unable to even make an effort to get up. Dudley's weight falling on them had winded them up.
But the bespectacled boy was gaping open-mouthed at Acquila. He didn't glance at Dudley's hilarious attempts to get to his feet. He just stared unblinkingly at Acquila.
Harry had seen what happened! Dudley's shoelaces had started tying themselves up on their own—as if by magic! And that was the very reason why Dudley suddenly stumbled!
For a moment, he wondered whether he had imagined it all. But as he saw the strange look on the girl's face, he knew that he hadn't imagined it! It seemed like the girl could make things happen! Just like he could!
Dudley finally got up and stood facing the two black-haired children, with his mates behind him. But just as he was about to say something indubitably threatening to Acquila, he saw the teacher approaching.
"I'll get back at you for this! Both of you!" he hissed viciously and stomped away to the classroom.
Harry and Acquila looked at each other, before quietly following Dudley.
Harry sat on his usual desk. Acquila, after a moment's hesitation, sat right next to him.
"Hey," mumbled Harry sheepishly. "Thanks for what you did back there. I'm Harry, by the way. Harry Potter."
"I'm Acquila," she said, the usual pang of sorrow flitting through her mind at her not even knowing what her last name was.
"Thanks for—for defending me—but you didn't need to help me. Dudley's the same everyday. It's nothing new. I've learnt to live with it. And you don't need Dudley as your enemy for my sake. He'll start giving you trouble too," said Harry earnestly.
"So he bullies you everyday and you do nothing about it?" exclaimed Acquila with a mixture of astonishment and anger.
"There's no point," said Harry. "He's bigger than me—and he's my cousin. I live with him."
"But you shouldn't—" Acquila paused in her indignant protest, when she saw the teacher entering the classroom.
"Students, please settle down!" said the teacher to the class at large."We have a few new students, this year. Let me introduce them to the class."
As Acquila was being introduced to the class, Harry cast a surreptitious sideways glance at her.
Why had the girl rescued him? Why had she stood up against Dudley for him, when she didn't even know him?
And more importantly, why did he feel as if he knew her? As if she was someone with whom he had once been very close to, as though he'd known her since years and years.
But it wasn't possible, was it? He had just met her! And he didn't really remember ever having seen her before. He probably had felt he knew her because this was the first time someone had stood up for him in his entire lifetime and deemed him worth defending.
As the teacher began teaching, Harry shooed his thoughts away. He cast another glance at her after the lesson had ended, only to see her grey eyes looking back at him. He opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it with a snap. Having never interacted much with children his age, especially girls, he felt rather shy to initiate a conversation.
As for Acquila, she was brooding over the possibility that someone would realise that she was the one who'd made Dudley's shoelaces tie themselves up. She was scared that the children there would ignore her just like the kids at her orphanage did. And she didn't really want to talk to Harry, lest he asked her how it was that Dudley had suddenly tripped and fallen.
At the end of the day, Acquila found Mrs. Smith waiting for her at the school gate.
"Looks like your day was good, dear! Did you befriend that boy, there?" Mrs. Smith asked her, as Harry smiled and shyly waved goodbye.
"It was good," muttered Acquila vaguely, her thoughts seemingly wandering elsewhere.
Mrs. Smith stared intently at her for a long moment, wondering why the girl wasn't her usual talkative self. She had been with Acquila since the very day she had been brought to the orphanage. And Acquila had been just the daughter that Mrs. Smith's childless self had yearned for. Because the kids at the orphanage ignored Acquila, she tended to talk a lot to her. And Acquila's vague reply and her lack of eagerness to describe her first day at school worried the elderly lady.
"What happened, my child? Is something wrong? Did something happen at school today?" she asked Acquila concernedly.
At this, Acquila's mind drifted to the Dudley incident, and to the messy-haired, green-eyed Harry, who seemed inexplicably familiar to her.
But a moment later, she shook her head. "No, Mrs. Smith. I had quite a good day. I learnt a lot…" she trailed off.
Knowing from experience that Acquila could never be forced into revealing her thoughts, Mrs. Smith nodded, and they walked back to the Orphanage in relative silence.
oOo
The next day found Harry and Acquila sitting on the swings during the recess, still quite shy to exchange more than a few sentences with each other.
The bell rang, signalling the end of the recess. Acquila tried to get off the swing, but fell down in the process.
"Acquila!" exclaimed Harry, staring worriedly at her bruised knee. He tried to help her up and then assisted her gingerly, realising that she couldn't walk properly and was hobbling on her uninjured leg, not even feeling the sudden pain that flitted through his own knee.
"Let's go to the nurse. You'll be fine," Harry assured her, as they walked towards the school building, Acquila wincing intermittently in pain.
But just as they stepped out of the playground, their path was blocked by Dudley and his gang.
"Looks like your girlfriend can't save you today, Harry," sneered Dudley, pointing at Acquila's knee, which was now bleeding rather profusely.
Harry stared at Dudley in terror, knowing that his cousin was very much capable of punching an injured girl. He gulped, unable to bear even the mere thought of Acquila getting picked on by Dudley, just for having defended Harry the previous day. He needed to think quickly to get Acquila out of the situation. And though Dudley and his gang were far stronger than him, Harry was far more quick-witted than they were.
"Look, an ice-cream truck!" Harry exclaimed with well-faked enthusiasm.
And as Dudley and his friends turned their attention to the street, Harry took advantage of their temporary distraction, grabbed Acquila's hand and started running in the opposite direction towards the entrance of the school building; almost dragging her with him in his haste.
"Oww!" cried Acquila, hobbling and then falling to the ground.
Dudley and his cronies, meanwhile, realised that they had been fooled and ran after the two.
"Get up!" cried Harry urgently, as the three bullies neared them. "Come on! Or he'll punch you!" Harry tried to bodily pull Acquila to her feet, but failed.
"I can't!" exclaimed Acquila, wincing in pain. "You go! Call the teachers!"
She pushed him away, frantic to get him away from the bulling boys.
Dudley wouldn't really punch her, would he? She was a girl, and punching a girl wasn't really something a well brought-up boy would do.
"No! I'm not leaving you! Come on! Stand up!" Harry urged her as Dudley came within hardly a few metres of them.
He couldn't leave her there! He was sure Dudley would punch the daylights out of her!
He looked around wildly, for a way to escape and get her out of the situation. He wished they could go somewhere—some place where Dudley wouldn't be able to reach them, where Acquila wouldn't have to run anymore.
As Dudley's face leered within a mere metre of them, he shut his eyes, praying someone—something would help them.
But the very next moment, he felt like he was being squeezed though a thin tube. And when he opened his eyes, Acquila and he had managed to land on the roof of the school building!
On the ground below, he could see Dudley and his gang looking around the lawn, confusion evident on their faces.
And as realisation dawned on what had just happened, Harry and Acquila looked at each other, their eyes wide with astonishment and disbelief!