Disclaimer:I do not own characters, places, or ideas that belong to Harry Potter, just the plot and any additional stuff I come up. All other credit goes to J. K. Rowling, the wonderful author that put Harry Potter into the world.
PART OF THE TRUTH
'Uh-oh...' was pretty much the only thing Harry could think. It was like her thought process was on loop.
The situation was a delicate one, and as so: Harry, female Harry that has to make EVERYONE think she is male, had slipped up with her secret while talking to a snake and it turns out that someone had been listening in the whole time. That someone just happened to be very stern looking, not an easy-going person that would brush it off or a caring person that would, well, care. In addition, Harry had been left behind by her relatives and was thus alone and at the mercy of strange strangers.
The lady in black had basically dragged Harry away from Sasha the golden snake and the animal tent into another with the three ringmasters, Pyro, Po, and Pyra. She was really graceful in her movements, Harry noted absently, but her beauty was that of a stiff businesswoman. She was a contradiction in that way, though her attitude matched her looks.
Harry had picked up that the lady's name, or at least part of it, was Snape, but she was too scared to ask. Pyro, Po, and Pyra didn't exactly help either, because they were too busy worrying about the trouble they might get in. The only helpful person Harry had met in the circus had been the clown before, who was not present.
"What is your name," Snape suddenly broke the silence and asked.
"Harry," the ravenette replied quickly, almost jumping.
The fiery colored material of the tent was brightened by the sun burning down from the highest point of the sky. The triplets' hair practically glowed in that light.
"Harry what?" the black-robed woman continued. One would think that so much black on the noon of a summer day would make her uncomfortable, hot, or even sweaty.
"Harry Potter," she quickly corrected her mistake and stated her full name.
The ringmasters gasped, but Snape merely said, "As I thought."
"You know me?" Harry asked before she could think, confused.
"Of course!" Pyra burst in.
"You're famous in the wizarding world," Po said more calmly, but still with the look one has when they meet a celebrity.
Pyro was the one to finish this time: "I can't believe we have the privilege of meeting you in person!"
"Be quiet," Snape commanded with an authority they all shrunk away from. "As you were lucky this time, you will not be forced to close," she continued threateningly towards the triplets, "but next time, I assure you, shall be different.
"As for you, Harry Potter," Snape spat out the name, "you shall come with me."
Once more Harry was dragged by the crook of the arm outside a tent by the lady in black, terrified and unable to think anything that wasn't random like, 'Whoa, how the heck did they get the trees in circles like that?'
That thought was actually legit, though, because the trees and other vegetation all appeared to line the grounds perfectly.
After what seemed like an hour but was probably less than a minute of being dragged, Harry finally mustered up the courage to ask a question. "Who are you and where are you taking me?" Two questions...
The woman stopped her brisk walk and looked down on Harry, literally as well as the other sense of considering oneself superior. "You will call me Professor Snape, and I'm taking you to a place where we can talk without eavesdroppers." She looked pointedly around them for enunciation.
"Why?" Harry decided she might as well keep talking if Snape was willing to answer questions. She now had the comforting thought that she wouldn't be eaten by blackness if she made so much as a peep.
"Because," the black-robed lady snapped.
The near surroundings slowly got leafier and bushier; more plants sprouted up that only made way for the path they were walking on, and tents stopped appearing.
"Er, how exactly do you know me?" Harry managed to say the question that had eaten away at her since she had gotten such excited reactions from the mention of her name.
"Hmph, as I thought, you haven't been told anything. I suppose I might as well, then..." Snape sighed grumpily. It was almost comical how Harry's expression went from uncertain to ecstatic. "What?" Snape asked, perhaps a little worried by the new glint in the girl's eyes.
"You mean you'll actually tell me something?!" She was nearly bursting with enthusiasm.
"I could just as well tell you you're going to die, couldn't I?" the black-robed woman huffed irritably.
"But you'll actually answer questions?" Harry prodded, eyes turning serious.
"Yes..."
"Then that will be the first time anyone did that for me," she explained.
Snape didn't say anything in reply, just kept walking, but she didn't need to. Harry could see it in her face; she was wondering what kind of life the young girl had experienced so far.
The day had darkened a bit when they finally stopped, proving Harry's feeling that they had been walking a good amount of time.
"Excuse me," Harry started uncertainly, "but won't being this far make it hard to get back before closing time? My aunt and uncle will be looking for me at that point..."
"Certainly," Snape said gruffly. "However, they will be informed you are staying with a 'friend.'"
"Oh. Does that mean you'll take me home then?" the child continued to question.
"Yes," the older woman said after a slight hesitation. "I will also be taking you to London, I suppose..."
"Why?"
"You are a very inquisitive child, aren't you," she stated.
"My aunt says that too, and that I shouldn't be. She says I wouldn't understand the answers to most of my questions, like why I have-" Harry cut herself off by slapping her hand over her mouth and coughing.
"Have to what?" Snape asked curiously, raising a brow and moving over to a clear spot in the grass to sit.
"I'm not supposed to tell," Harry said quickly. "Aunt Petunia said it would be bad if anyone found out."
"That you are female?"
The ravenette child looked around and "Shhhh"ed the other loudly. "Someone will hear you!" she cried out.
"Who? We're alone here."
Harry held up a finger to stop Snape and cupped her other hand around her ear. "Listen. Can't you hear the whispering?"
The black-clothed professor looked around not seeing anyone, but decided on a whim to listen to the child. Her breaths slowed, and the world grew brighter. She could hear her heart thumping loudly, but even over that was a rustling, shashaying kind of sound. The hisses that stand out when one whispers, chatter in unintelligible languages. The chirps of fledgling birds waiting for dinner, the "shh" of tails whipping against trees and bushes. Sunlight filtered through layers of leaves, making everything look speckled with shadows; hiding and throwing into light their audience.
"What-?" Snape whispered, seeing what she had never before in the scene. Foxes slinked around trees; squirrels fanned out with chipmunks and the winged animals at the tops of trees; badgers mingled stoically with wide-eyed lizards and squinting felines.
Harry practically gleamed, her smile was so bright, as she curtsied to the viewers like she was welcoming them. Her green shirt was pushed around her by the wind and she laughed at the feeling of it.
"See?" Harry said to Snape, knocking the older women out of a trance. "There're always listeners to whatever you may say. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, but there nonetheless."
"Well," the professor said in a clipped sort of tone, "then I suppose it is a good thing muggles cannot speak to animals."
"What?" it was the child's turn to be confused. "What is a muggle?"
Snape sighed, her black brows creasing slightly. "A muggle is a human without magic."
And so the long talk began.
"Magic?"
"Yes. This world is actually full of magic that is hidden from muggles, who wouldn't accept it even if they saw it with their own two eyes."
"Then am I a muggle? It seems like a rather mean name."
"No, otherwise I wouldn't be telling you all of this. You are a wizard, or at least you should be. However, it seems that you are a witch."
"Can you tell me why I'm supposed to be a wizard instead?" Harry looked up at Snape with such hope in her green eyes that Snape had to turn away her own black ones.
"I'm afraid that I cannot, for I myself do not know why you are so."
Harry lowered her messy-haired head in disappointment, but quickly recuperated. "Then why am I a witch? I mean, why do I have magic?"
"It is because your parents had magic."
"Then wouldn't my aunt and uncle have told me?" the girl questioned suspiciously.
"They were supposed to, but it seems their hatred of magic lead them to not." For a second, it almost seemed as if the normally calm older woman was angry. Her dark eyes looked brighter, as if they were glowing coals.
"But I don't understand; what do wizards and witches do if they can't be acknowledged by normal folk?"
"Magic remains hidden through magic. The reason I will take you to London is to shop for school supplies, supplies for the most famous magic school there is: Hogwarts."
"But wouldn't people notice magic item shops?" Harry pursued.
"As I said, magic remains hidden by magic. You will see for yourself when we get to there."
"One more question," the green-eyed girl said hesitantly. "If my parents had magic, why did they die in a car accident?"
Snape breathed deeply for a few seconds before answering, "They didn't. Lucas and Jasmine Potter were killed by a dark wizard, and you were also meant to be dead that night."
"But why..?"
"For reasons you wouldn't understand. Your scar-" Harry brushed her forehead subconsciously "-is the proof of what took place."
"Then why didn't I die?" she demanded.
"The most common theory is that something went wrong with the spell, though I rather think it had more to do with your parents. They were by no means weak wizards, Miss Potter."
"I don't understand..." Harry said glumly, eyes a bit dim and shoulders slumped. She had a right to be disappointed, but she shook herself out of it quick enough. "When are we going to London?" she said with a happier face and a plan to make Professor Snape buy her food.
"Tonight. Right now, actually, if you're done with your questions."
By the stern look in Snape's eyes Harry could tell she knew of her intentions, but she smiled anyway. Life seemed pretty good, and she could ignore, for once, the fear of getting in trouble with her aunt and uncle. For once, she didn't have to worry about being bullied. It felt nice.
Ok, ok, late again, I know, but it's not like anyone read it. I don't know why I even bother with this. Maybe I should just stop updating until someone actually reads the latest chapter. Comment your name if you have a story you're trying to get people to read, and I'll read it. Seriously, Marching Band season is nearly over, I'm not that busy anymore.