Mattie stayed where she was, staring at the spot where Miss White and Miss Daniels had vanished. The hard floor and the gravel from the cracks in the ground hurt her knees, but she couldn't move.
Miss White—and Miss Daniels—
"Excuse me," the same deep voice said, and tapped her gently on the shoulder. Mattie's magic flared instinctively, causing the man to take a step back.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Miss—"
The man moved around her, presumably to see her better, and sucked in a deep breath at the sight of her face.
"Miss Potter," he breathed.
"How do all of you know my name," Mattie said dully, but she didn't really care. Her mind was playing the last few moments on repeat: Miss White unconscious with a pool of blood behind her head, Miss Daniels pushing her away, the flash of light and the sand whirlpool that caused them to disappear…
"But where did they go," she murmured.
"Miss Potter, I'm afraid we'll have to ask you a few questions about what happened here," the man said. Mattie looked up.
The man was dark, with a shiny bald head and the sort of calm demeanor that assured one that everything would be all right. Most of all, he was wearing scarlet robes, and that made Mattie stand up. She wobbled a little, so she accepted the man's outstretched hand.
The man led her outside the reptile house, where more people with sticks scurried about. Mattie startled to see her Aunt Petunia on the ground, head pillowed on the lap of a person in lime-green robes, light emanating from around her head.
"Aunt Petunia!" she cried out, and rushed to her. Her knees buckled, sending her skidding hard across the gravel of the sidewalk.
"She's all right, she's just being healed," the man soothed her. "When she wakes, all she'll know is that there was an earthquake at the zoo."
No funny business. Mattie felt like laughing hysterically. She had promised her aunt no funny business, and instead Aunt Petunia had gotten injured.
"What about my cousin? And my uncle? And Dudley's friend," she added.
The man pointed towards a white tent, where a steady stream of stretchers floated in and out.
"They're likely in there."
He didn't take her to the tent though. Instead, he led her towards a woman with springy black curls, who took one look at Mattie and the scar slashed across her face and gasped, "Merlin! So that's why they attacked!"
"I'm why—?"
Mattie felt her knees buckle again. She was unconscious before she hit the ground.
xxx
Mattie woke slowly, the soft bed beneath her and the smell of antiseptic telling her she was not at the zoo any longer.
"I think she's awake," someone at her bedside said.
"Good," the same deep voice from earlier said. "Are you sure she's all right? We do need to ask her some questions."
"She's right as rain, but try not to startle her or anything; she's had a shock, and she's expended a lot of magic. Merlin, an earthquake—the Muggles must be having a fit."
"Could you expect any less of the Girl-Who-Lived?" the voice of the woman from earlier said excitedly.
"Crickerly," the deep voice reprimanded. There was a conspicuous silence.
Mattie opened her eyes then, blinking at the lights. She was in hospital, she guessed, though she'd never really been to a hospital before. She'd seen hospitals on the telly, though, and this looked pretty much the same as that.
The man cleared his throat, and Mattie turned to look at him. He smiled at her with very white teeth.
"Welcome back, Miss Potter," he said. Mattie attempted a smile, but thought it might have become more of a grimace.
"As I was saying before, perhaps you could tell us what happened during the attack on Surrey zoo?"
Mattie did. She described the man who accosted her—a description that made the woman, Crickerly, scribble madly onto a piece of yellowish paper—then how Miss White and Miss Daniels saved her, and then how they vanished in a swirl of sand.
Crickerly seemed very interested in Miss White's broken necklace, as well as the sand that took them away.
"And you're sure it was sand, Miss Potter?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"And there was a long golden chain around their necks?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Crickerly and the man exchanged looks.
"Shacklebolt, that would explain why we can't identify any of the Death Eaters!" Crickerly said excitedly, her curls seeming to ping off her head. "They were—"
"Crickerly," Shacklebolt reprimanded again.
"More to the point," he said, "who are these Miss White and Miss Daniels characters? Can you tell us about them?"
"Miss White—Miss Mary White—is the librarian at the Little Whinging library," Mattie said, "and Miss Stella Daniels is her friend."
"Mary White…Stella Daniels…" Crickerly wrote busily. "Those don't sound like wixen names."
"Could be aliases," Shacklebolt offered, as Mattie said, "But they are! Miss Daniels told me they were from the wixen world, too, and to wait for people in scarlet robes. She said once you arrived I'd be safe," she remembered.
"Probably not Death Eaters, then, if they were protecting Miss Potter."
"No, but constant vigilance," Shacklebolt said, quirking a smile.
"Mr. Shacklebolt, Ms. Crickerly, why did that man want to hurt me?" Mattie asked.
"Because you're the Girl-Who-Lived!" Crickerly burst out, obviously surprised at Mattie's question.
"I'm the what?"
"You mean—you mean you don't know who you are?" Crickerly gasped.
"I'm Mattie Potter," was all Mattie could think of to say.
"Exactly!"
"Crickerly, that's enough," Shacklebolt said. "We are confusing and distressing Miss Potter, and the healer specifically said not to startle her. She's had a shock."
"But Shacklebolt! She doesn't know who she is!"
"Hush," Shacklebolt said. "Miss Potter, I know you must have many questions, but I don't think I'm the person to answer them."
"But I am," a voice from the doorway said. Mattie, Shacklebolt, and Crickerly turned.
A man with a hooked nose and swirling black robes stood there at the doorway, raising an eyebrow at all of them.
"Professor Snape!" gasped Crickerly, in tones of abject terror, while Shacklebolt said pleasantly, "Hello, Snape. What brings you here?"
Mattie on the other hand clutched at her bedclothes, seeing only the black robes and assuming the worst. But when the man didn't draw a stick or attack any of them, she relaxed.
He wasn't wearing a mask, she noted, so he probably was not a Death Eater. Whatever those were.
The man—Mr. Snape? Professor Snape? Mattie thought it was safer to call him Mr. Snape—drew a letter from inside his robes, drew his stick, and flicked the letter towards Mattie. She flinched at the sight of the stick, but caught the letter anyway.
"Miss Potter was supposed to receive her letter within the next few weeks," he said coolly, "but due to today's circumstances, the Headmaster decided she should get her letter early, as well as have a member of staff on-hand to answer any questions she might have."
His tone indicated exactly what he thought of the whole chore.
"You mean it's true, then," Crickerly said, in tones of wonderment. "Matilda Potter doesn't know a whit about her story!"
"She will now," Shacklebolt said repressively. "Crickerly, once we get back to the office we are going to have a talk on how to behave in front of witnesses. Snape, Miss Potter—a good day to you."
Mr. Snape inclined his head the barest amount, while Mattie attempted another smile for Shacklebolt and Crickerly.
"Well, Miss Potter?" Mr. Snape said impatiently. "We haven't got all day! Open the letter!"
In emerald ink, the address read:
Miss M. Potter
The Cupboard Under the Stairs
Number Four, Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
On the other side was a purple wax seal with a coat of arms: a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a big letter H.
Mattie ran her fingers across the thick yellowish paper in utter wonderment.
"How'd they know about my cupboard?" she wondered aloud. Mr. Snape flinched.
Instead of breaking the seal, Mattie carefully lifted the wax off the paper, setting it on the bedside table to keep for later. She then slid out two pieces of paper. Picking one up, she read:
Dear Miss Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
"Witchcraft and wizardry," she said softly, tasting the words on her mouth. "Witchcraft and wizardry. Is that what I can do, then?"
"And what, exactly, is it that you do, Miss Potter?" Mr. Snape said.
"All sorts," Mattie breathed, her incidents of magic springing to mind one after the other. "I can make things grow bigger or smaller if I want to. I flew once. And I turned something orange…And I think I caused an earthquake," she said shamefacedly.
A single black eyebrow rose eloquently in question.
"I assume you mean the earthquake that hit Surrey zoo just this afternoon?"
Mattie nodded.
"Mr. Snape, sir?"
"What is it?" he bit out. "And call me Professor, for that is what I am. I teach Potions at Hogwarts, where you will be attending."
"It's just, Professor—what does this all mean? I don't understand, I—"
"Merlin save us, she's a Muggleborn," Professor Snape snarled. "You, Miss Potter, are a witch. Because you are a witch, you will be attending Hogwarts, the premier school for witchcraft and wizardry. You will study magic there for seven years. What else is there you do not understand?"
Mattie shrank, but then screwed up her courage some more. "What does it mean, they await my owl?"
"Owls are the wixen method of messaging, Miss Potter," Professor Snape said. "You give a letter to an owl, clearly addressed, and the owl will be able to deliver the message to the person you wish to mail."
"And what did Ms. Crickerly mean—I'm the Girl-Who-Lived?"
For the first time in the whole conversation, Professor Snape was at a loss for words. He sank down on the squashy purple armchair next to Mattie's hospital bed, then scowled and with a flick of his stick turned the armchair into a straight-backed, black wooden chair.
"Also—what is that stick?" Mattie added.
"This is called a wand, Miss Potter, not a stick," Professor Snape said. "As for being the Girl-Who-Lived…did Petunia really tell you nothing? Do you at least know how your—parents died?"
"In a car crash," Mattie said promptly.
"In a—in a car crash?" Professor Snape choked out. "A car crash kill Lily Evans?"
"You knew my mother?"
"We were…we were friends as children," Professor Snape said. "Petunia told you Lily Evans died in a car crash? The woman could fly as a child, and a car crash was supposed to kill her?"
"She could fly? I can fly too, a little," Mattie said wonderingly.
Professor Snape ignored her.
"Dear Lord, she's a Muggleborn," he muttered again. "And I refuse to be the one who tells the child about—I refuse. Miss Potter," he barked. "Do you feel ill anywhere? Are you up to checking out of St. Mungo's? St. Mungo's is this very hospital you're lying in," he added, to stop Mattie's next question.
"I—I suppose?" Mattie said. "But sir, I think I should be getting back home to Surrey." She couldn't say "Aunt Petunia will be worrying for me," because she wouldn't be, but she could say "Aunt Petunia will be very cross with me for not coming home promptly."
"Ah, yes," Professor Snape sneered. "Petunia Evans. I shall have words with her later. The question remains, Miss Potter: Can you leave this hospital room?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Get up. Your clothing is on that table there."
With a start, Mattie realized she was no longer wearing the t-shirt and overalls ensemble she had put on that morning, but rather a plain white hospital gown. Professor Snape obligingly retreated as she pulled on her clothes, but he did wrinkle his nose at the bloodstains on her knees.
He waved his wand and the blood and dirt stains disappeared. With another strange word, the holes in the overalls were fixed, and even the seam Mattie had been meaning to sew up was repaired as well.
"Ready?" he asked Mattie.
"Where are we going, sir?" Mattie asked.
"To the wixen world."
Author's note: Do leave a review on the way out: it heartens a writer to have some feedback on their work. :) I am very grateful for every follow and favorite, but a girl would love to know what you thought about the latest chapters!
