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Chapter 3

In no time at all, the train reached King's Cross. Holly didn't lose any time in getting off the train and leaving the station.

She had no idea what she was supposed to do, nor she had any place to go at the moment.

She decided to wander around for a bit, buy something to eat and then think about what to do.

Luck didn't seem to be on her side that day though. A policeman was doing his daily inspection when he saw her.

"What are you doing here, all alone? Where are your parents?" He asked her kindly.

Holly lowered her gaze to the ground before answering "They died some years ago, sir". She didn't need to imagine the expression of pity that she was sure was crossing the officer's face in that moment.

He looked at her clothes next, too large for her and obviously old. "Have you been on the street all this time?". He asked her rhetorically.

Holly wasn't particularly surprised that the officer had come to the conclusion that she had been living on the streets since her parents' death. She decided to take advantage of the situation, after all no orphanage could be worse than the house she had lived in until that moment. Living in an orphanage would at least mean having a roof over her head and food to eat every day. In addition to that, there was also the fact that, if anyone tried to hurt her, they would find themselves on their receiving end of her magic. She knew how to defend herself now and she had no qualms about using her magic to retaliate against someone who tried to hurt her. She had no intention of returning to be some muggles' punching bag, she had no intention of reliving what she had been through with the Dursleys thank you very much.

"I have no place to go sir" She decided to say in the end, not actually answering the policeman's question but implying that yes, she had lived on the streets all her life.

"What is your name?" He asked her then, looking at her pityingly. Holly hated to be pitied but she was fortunately able to maintain her air of innocence and sadness.

"Electra Black, sir." She answered, without the need to think about it. She couldn't certainly introduce herself as Holly Potter since she had decided that 'Holly Potter' needed to disappear. The alternate choice was rather easy to make.

"Electra uhm? What a strange name..." He commented to himself then he added "Well, come on then. I'll find you a place to stay!" And reaching out towards her, he took her hand in his, smiling at her all the while, probably going for a reassuring expression that had no effect whatsoever on her.

The policeman, like pretty much every other person Holly had come in contact with, was immediately charmed by her innocent air and her beautiful face. Holly had never thought about using her appearance to her advantage but now she realized that it could be useful, learning to use her looks to manipulate people to obtain what she wanted.

The officer - who had introduced himself as Mark Thompson - like she was expecting brought her to an orphanage. The matron of the orphanage, Mrs O'Connell, didn't lose anytime in welcoming her inside, once the officer had explained the situation to him. The matron wasn't certainly new to those sorts of things and didn't ask her any questions.

Mrs O'Connell told her to choose a room and then went down for dinner that will be served at exactly 8 o'clock in the dining room at the end of the entrance hall.

St. Marie's Orphanage had been built after the First World War but had been renovated not too long ago, a decade at the most. The east side of the orphanage, however, had been left as it was before the renovation and all the rooms were left empty.

Holly, that wanted a place where she could be by herself without being bothered by anyone, chose a room belonging to the east side, considering it - since it was deserted - the best place in the orphanage where she could keep her privacy and continue to study magic.

The room she had chosen was big, though old, painted in dark colors and with a canopy bed in the centre that looked rather comfortable - or at least better than what she had been used to until now -. There was also a cherry wood wardrobe, a desk of the same wood, an empty bookcase and a bedside table near the bed. It was all rather simple but it was certainly better than anything Holly had ever known since that moment.

The child freed the shrunken trunk from her pocket and returned it to its original size, before putting it inside the wardrobe and locking this one with a key that she hid inside the pocket of her jeans.

Looking at her watch, she realized that it was almost time for dinner and immediately she left her new bedroom and went down towards the dining room.

The dining room consisted of a large table around which were seated children of different ages, everyone wearing the same tattered, old uniform.

Holly walked in slowly but as soon as Mrs O'Connell saw her, brought her in front of a table to introduce her to the other kids.

Holly barely smiled in response before sitting down and starting to eat.

The first months at the orphanage passed quickly and Holly felt rather pleased at her new accommodations. She spent most of her time locked up in her room, reading and practicing spells, and left it only when it was time to eat. She hadn't made any friends nor she didn't want any. After what had happened with the Dursleys, she wasn't willing to trust anyone. She preferred being alone for the most part and the only times she had contact with other people was when she needed something from them.

In the beginning, a lot of boys and girls of the orphanage had tried to befriend her, attracted to her beautiful face and her charismatic personality, but she had refused everybody. Not everyone had taken the rejection well but there wasn't anyone brave enough to confront her about it.

During that time, the spell casted on her by her mother had completely faded, leaving her with her real appearance, that of a Black, so that no one would be able to recognize her as Holly Potter. She had also found a practical way to hide her scar, with muggle make up, since no glamour seemed to have any effect on it.

However, the most amazing thing that had happened in those months at the orphanage was the discovery of a new compartment in the trunk where there were all the documents concerning all that she owned, both in terms of money and houses, both of the SaintClaire and the Potter families. Though she couldn't access the Potter vaults for obvious reasons, and though most of what she owned was off-limits until her age of majority, her mother had opened a trust vault for her under the name SaintClaire. In the trunk there were also half a million pounds plus an invisibility cloak, an old, strange parchment completely blank that she had later figured out was the Marauders' Map, potions ingredients that appeared perfectly intact – both common and rare ones – probably under a preservation spell, tons of books – most of them about the dark arts - and wizarding robes that would automatically adapt to the size of the wearer. She had also found out a photo album with photos of Lily, Severus and Regulus and also of James Potter, Sirius, Remus Lupin and Pettigrew.

The first thing she did as soon as she found out about the money was going on a shopping spree in London, intent on buying herself a new wardrobe and everything else she saw that captured her interest. The time for her to wear Dudley's hand-me-downs was over.

She was also making a lot of progress with magic. She had already learned a lot of spells present in her mother's school books and in others, whose branches were not taught in Hogwarts, like healing magic, elemental magic, parselmagic – since it was not common being able to talk to snakes – and even the dark arts. In particular, she had a natural predisposition towards the dark arts, probably due to the blood in her veins – SaintClaire's and Black's, both dark families.

To learn a spell, she needed to cast it with a wand first and then she would try without it. Wandless magic required a great amount of raw magic and not everyone had that kind of power, thing that made it almost impossible for most wizards and witches. She was not a normal witch however. Yes, wandless magic was certainly difficult for her but not impossible. She had noticed though, that the more she practiced, the easier it became. Maybe because she was still so young, her magical core could still be 'trained', so to say.

She had read some articles in the papers regarding her disappearance – or at least 'Holly Potter's disappearance. Of course they had no way of finding her, first because Petunia had been unable to provide even one picture of her, and second because – even if she had – with the looks she sported now, nobody would be able to make the connection between her and the girl who had been living with the Dursleys until six months ago.

Beside the fact that she had grown in height even more, all her physical traits she had supposedly 'inherited' from James Potter had disappeared, living her looking more like a feminine version of Regulus – her real father – or her uncle Sirius. From the Blacks for instance she had inherited her raven black hair and her ivory skin. From her mother she had inherited – beside her green eyes - her small nose, thin eyebrows and full lips. Her eyesight too was completely healed.

It was very probable that they had started looking for her at Dumbledore's behest and not certainly because of her aunt. However, she was willing to bet that they were looking for someone who was the feminine copy of James Potter with short, wild hair and round glasses. They really didn't have any chance of finding her.