I'm Not a Witch.
That night, Effy dreamt about a flying motorcycle and a large, giant-like, figure with a long dark beard accompanied with long dark hair. She woke up to the sound of light tapping on her window and rubbed her eyes as she rolled over to see what it was. It was an owl, the same as yesterday, but it wasn't holding anything it was just tapping its beak on her window.
She sat up and just as she went to open the window the owl flew away. Effy watched it fly before getting out of bed and stretching. It was a beautiful day and she contemplated whether or not to go outside but rolled her eyes when she remembered that she was grounded. She looked over at her foster siblings to see that they were still asleep before going to the bathroom and brushing her teeth. She then got a shower and got changed into a polo shirt and black jeans before sitting down on her bed. Leaving her hair down so that it could air-dry, she opened her sketchpad and began to draw.
First, she drew a pair of eyes than a nose and the rest of a face. She then realised that she was drawing the boy that she'd met at the zoo, Harry, but in the drawing, he had a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt which she hadn't seen in real life. She frowned slightly in confusion just as a large bang came from downstairs. Her eyes widened slightly as it happened again, and again.
Felix jerked awake and sat up quickly. He looked at Effy wide-eyed, "what the fuck is that?"
Effy shrugged, "I don't know."
She put down her sketchpad and got out of bed. She realised that Alice was awake and Kyle groaned, "Fuck off Donna!"
"I don't think its Donna," Effy said to him.
Felix, Alice and Kyle got out of bed and walked towards the door. Another bang and a loud scream erupted from downstairs. The foster kids looked at each other and Effy opened the door.
"Donna?" she called, walking down the stairs.
"Who the fuck are you?" yelled Donna downstairs. "Get out of my house."
"You should have answered the door then," said a voice that they had never heard before. "Now, where's young Effy?"
Effy and Felix shared a look.
"ELIZABETH!" yelled Donna.
Effy rolled her eyes and made her way down the stairs to see the front door off its hinges. The foster kids followed her with wide eyes as she walked into the living room to see a giant of a man sat on the sofa. Donna was stood on the other side of the room from the giant with her children standing behind her, shock evident on their faces.
The man's face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his dark eyes. Effy's eyebrows raised, he looked exactly like the man in her dream.
"Fucking hell," Felix breathed.
The giant looked up and smiled when he saw Effy, "you mus' be Effy."
He held out a large hand and, not wanting to be rude, she took it. The giant pulled her towards him and stroked her cheek with his massive thumb.
"You look just like your mum," he smiled. "Except, you've got your dad's eyes and" – he touched her hair – "yep, you've got his hair too."
Effy felt a pain in her chest, "you knew my parents?"
He smiled wider, "o' course I did. Good friends of mine, your mum an' dad." – He turned slightly, revealing Harry next to him – "just like young Harry's."
She frowned confusingly and smiled, "Harry?"
"Hello Effy," he smiled.
"O' course," the giant grinned. "You've already met!"
Effy smiled, seeing the warmth in the giant's eyes, and there was an awkward silence for a couple of seconds.
"Uh, sorry, but," Felix smiled, breaking the silence. "Who are you?"
The giant chuckled and stood up, holding out his hand, "my name is Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. But you can call me Hagrid, everyone else does."
Felix took his hand and the stranger shook his whole arm before doing the same to Kyle. He looked to Alice, who was smiling up at him and stroked her cheek with his thumb, "hello there, little one."
He sat back down and Donna's eyes widened, "Hogwarts? What the fuck is Hogwarts?!"
Effy and Felix shared a look while Alice grinned.
"Language, please," said Hagrid. "There are children around." She rolled her eyes. "Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Did you not receive the letters?"
"I need a drink!" sighed Donna.
"Well, thanks for offering Miss Hendrix." Hagrid said, "I'll have a cup o' tea."
"We don't have tea," said Donna, spitefully. "So, you're going to have to love us and leave us because I need to clean the house."
"You never clean," said Kyle.
"And no one could ever love you," said Felix.
Donna glared at them while Hagrid laughed, "I'll have some whisky then, Hendrix. I'm sure you'll have that."
Harry held back a smirk and the foster kids laughed. Donna glared at Hagrid and sent Henry into the kitchen to get her some whiskey. The foster kids went further into the living room; Kyle sat down on the other sofa, followed by Felix and Alice.
"Wait, so... Hogwarts is real?" asked Felix.
"Of course not!" yelled Donna.
"Well o' course it is, Felix!" grinned Hagrid as Henry walked back into the room carrying a bottle of whisky.
Donna went to take it from him when Hagrid got there first. Henry jumped back in fear while Donna rolled her eyes at Hagrid as he began to drink from the bottle.
"You know his name?" asked Effy, glancing at Felix.
Hagrid nodded, "when I got asked to come get you an' Harry, Dumbledore filled me in. I know the name of everyone who you lived with."
Effy's eyebrows rose in shock and Hagrid placed the now-empty bottle of whisky down on the coffee table.
"Dumbledore?" asked Kyle
"The headmaster o' course," said Hagrid.
"Of 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'..." said Effy doubtfully. "I'm not a witch."
"Now, listen here Elizabeth," said Hagrid. "Yer' Mum was a witch and yer' Dad's a wizard. And with those two as your parents o' course you're a witch, what else could you be? And just like Harry, with a bit of training, you'll be a bloody good one too!"
Effy sighed, "I'm sorry Hagrid, but I think you've made a mistake."
"That's exactly what I thought when he came to me," said Harry.
"Not a witch, eh?" Hagrid smiled, "you've never made things happen when you were angry or scared? Something that you couldn't explain?"
"The hair dye," Effy's eyes widened.
"The snake," smiled Harry.
"Well," smiled Hagrid. "That was the both of you."
Felix smiled, "I was right then."
"I'm a witch," Effy said in disbelief, looking at Harry, Hagrid, Felix and Alice.
Alice's eyes widened in amazement and Donna's eyes widened in shock.
Donna glared at Hagrid and Effy, "you're not going!" Effy looked at her. "I won't allow it."
Hagrid began to go red in the face, "and a great Muggle like you is going to stop her are ya'?"
"Muggle?" asked Felix.
"Non-magic folk," stated Hagrid before turning to Donna and speaking sternly. "And, like Harry, Effy's had her name down since she was born!"
But Donna wasn't going to give in. She stood up, "she's not going!"
"What are you going to do? Lock her in the attic?" Hagrid stood up, towering over her, "Elizabeth Black is off ter Hogwarts, it's where she belongs! Her Mum and Dad were amazing at magic and I know that she will be too! And after everything she's been through as a young'en she deserves it!"
Effy smiled while Donna looked like she wanted to rib Hagrid's beard off.
"I'M NOT LETTING HER GO TO A SCHOOL AND HAVE THE TIME OF HER LIFE WITH A BUNCH OF FREAKS!" She screamed. "SHE DOESN'T DESERVE ANY OF IT!"
She grabbed Effy by the hair and pulled her backwards, towards her. Effy clenched her jaw to stop herself from yelping in pain. Harry's eyes widened in shock while Felix felt a wave of anger shoot through him. Alice glared at Donna and, just as she and Felix were going to force her off of their sister, Hagrid took out a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat and whirled it over his head.
"HOW DARE YOU!" he yelled.
He brought the umbrella down to point at Donna, there was a flash of light and the next second, Donna had let Effy go and now was gripping onto her face, screaming. Effy watched as her hair became grey and her face began to grow older, her skin becoming more droopy and wrinkly.
Donna shrieked like a banshee and pulled Marissa, Lewis and Henry out of the room. She cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.
Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard while everyone else was in shock.
"Ugh, I can't help but lose me temper with these muggles," he said ruefully and looked up at Effy. "Please don't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm - er - not supposed ter do magic."
"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Felix.
"Oh, well - I was at Hogwarts meself but I - er - got expelled."
"Why were you expelled?" asked Effy.
"Ah, never mind that," said Hagrid, changing the subject. "We've gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."
"Wait, what?" Effy frowned, "where are we going to get all this shit in London?"
"Language," Hagrid said a small smile on his face.
"Sorry," smiled Effy.
"You can get anything in London, you've just gotta know where ter' look."
Effy went to the attic to get her shoes on, grab her hobo bag and throw on a jacket before heading back downstairs, making sure she had her letter. As she was about to go down the stairs to the ground floor, Kyle stopped her on his way up.
"You're actually going to go with this guy?" he asked, a slight smirk on his face.
"Yeah," nodded Effy.
Kyle laughed and nodded, "that was fucking amazing, what he did to Donna."
Effy laughed, "I know. You're not going to tell anyone about this are you?"
He shrugged, "they wouldn't believe me anyway."
"Thanks," Effy smiled.
He smirked and Effy kissed his cheek before walking past him, down the stairs. She smirked and walked back into the living room, interrupting a conversation between Felix, Harry and Hagrid.
"I'm ready," she smiled.
Hagrid grinned, "Alright then, let's go."
Alice hugged Hagrid, making him grin and pat her head before giving her what must have been a very whiskery kiss on the forehead. She laughed and gave Harry a hug too. Harry smiled and hugged her back before he and Hagrid stood up to leave. Hagrid pulled Felix in for a hug too and Felix laughed as they pulled apart. Harry and Felix did some form of handshake, grinning at each other, while Alice gave Effy a hug.
"She'll be back later," smiled Hagrid and Alice grinned. "Term doesn't start 'till September and then she can come back for Christmas, Easter and the summer holidays."
"So you'll be living there?" asked Felix, his smile fading slightly.
Effy looked up at Hagrid and he nodded.
"Wait, really?" asked Effy. "I-uh-I can't."
"Why not?" Hagrid frowned, confused.
Effy looked over to her siblings and said, "I can't leave 'em."
Alice frowned and tugged on Felix's arm. He looked at her and they shared a look. He sighed, "yeah, you can."
"What? No, Fee, I can't."
"Yes, you can," he argued.
"Leave you guys here with these lot? I can't do that, Fee."
"Well, you're going to have to," Felix smiled and took Effy's hand. "I love you but if you don't do this I will never speak to you again."
Effy raised an eyebrow, "you, Felix Dawson, will never speak again? I highly doubt that."
"I said that I'll never speak to you again, I'll carry on speaking to everyone else."
Alice tugged on Effy's arm and motioned over to Harry and Hagrid. Effy bit her lip and looked back to Felix.
"We'll be fine, go and get your books and sh-" Felix managed to stop himself, "stuff."
Effy smiled and gave him a hug, "I love you, Fee."
"I love you too."
They pulled about and Effy looked at Hagrid, "I guess I'm coming."
"Alright," smiled Hagrid. "Best be off then, eh?"
"Can they come?" Effy asked, gesturing to Felix and Alice.
"Afraid not," sighed Hagrid. "As much as I'd love for you all to come, I've got some Hogwarts business to attend to." Alice and Felix nodded – "But, don't worry, your time will come." Hagrid winked, leaving everyone puzzled as he left the room.
Effy shrugged as she walked towards Felix and Alice and gave them both a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, "I'll see you later."
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