Hi All,
Welcome to a my new fic, Cambion.
Basic plot is that Hermione grew up in an orphanage before entering Hogwarts.
This is one of those tropes, Hermione is the Dark Lord's daughter.
If you don't like then please don't read further, you have been warned :-)
Yes, she's dark, she'll eventually become evil. All the warnings apply.
Disclaimer: This fanfiction is purely for non-profit and fun, all rights to canon characters and the HP universe belongs to JK Rowling
The little girl woke up shivering in cold sweat to a sordid dream of a pair of hands dragging her out of Mother Superior's office and locking the sobbing girl into solitary confinement with a hard shove.
She could barely remember the day she witnessed in the dream, and didn't care much for it. It's always one or the other torture and abuse she faced over the years growing up.
This one, the girl remembered was a year ago when Sister Alphonso caught her staring longingly towards the loaves of bread and chicken broth kept on the dining table meant for the nuns. The girl couldn't help it, her stomach rumbled with hunger not having had a proper meal in days as punishment.
Punishment for a crime she couldn't understand, she merely spoke to the only one friend who didn't hate her. The little garden snake was her only friend who sometimes got her little mice and would often tell her about learning to hunt. She would always say he was silly and return the mouse for her friend to gobble up.
She would lean down and go under the huge shrubs near the orphanage building where they met everyday. After spending years at the Hildreth House managed by few nuns affiliated to the local Church, she learnt whom to avoid and when to hide. It was easy, only two of the four nuns she feared were Mother Superior and Sister Alphonso.
Growing up she learnt this the hard way, after being punished for small things like reciting the verses incorrectly or losing her posture while kneeling to pray, things beyond her control like bed wetting and even things like asking for her parents.
The kids weren't too helpful either, few elder ones, especially Ellie and Macy bullied her, causing her trouble, even purposely pouring water on her bedding to get her punished. Ellie was 16 and Macy was 13, both of whom were feared by other children as much as they feared Sister Alphonso.
Sometimes the bedding would automatically dry up when she felt fear of the wooden paddles Sister Alphonso favoured to use as punishment and one time Ellie was blasted back into the wall when she tried to scare her with a big spider.
Slowly, everyone was either too afraid to become her friend or were chased away by the duo. No one would talk to her or play with her, so she would mostly sit near the tall shrubs sadly watching the other kids play around with each other.
Her heart wrenched at the feeling of loneliness, she couldn't believe why her parents didn't want her. She had vivid dreams about a woman of auburn hair and a dark haired man cooing to her. The images were blurry but one thing that stuck out were a pair of glowing eyes from the man who would conjure up sparks of various colors on his hands.
Usually Sister Aurelia, one of the kinder nuns, takes the afternoon shift and does not venture outside to apprehend the kids, this however was not her lucky day. She was chatting with the little snake when Sister Alphonso heard a series of hisses emanating from one of the shrubs.
She had been outside for her shift to round up the kids mostly because punishing anyone slightly out of line was one of her favourite activities in the hovel which lacked any entertainment.
She gasped upon hearing the sounds, upon looking closely, it was none other than the freak little girl. The nuns considered her to be the Devil's child, since over the years the girl had been punished many times for freak accidents like one of the elder girls falling off the stairs and getting injured and the chandelier to break and fall right where Mother Superior stood moments ago.
This was the last nail in the coffin, so to speak, as they decided to exorcise whatever demon possessed this girl. Father Edgar had been called from the church to perform the exorcism. The scared little girl begged and pleaded but no one heard her plea. She was dunked head first in holy water while the priest chanted the verses, she felt breathless as water filled her nostrils and she flailed around trying to pull her head out held firmly by Mother Superior.
As fear coursed through her veins a burst of static exploded through the room pushing Mother Superior off her back while the priest was flung hitting his back towards the wall.
The priest and Mother Superior were out of ideas and as a final effort to ensure that she had been cleansed of the demonic influence, they branded her back with the holy cross burnt into her skin using a red hot poker stick. The girl couldn't take the pain and screamed herself to unconsciousness.
Sister Alphonso dumped her unconscious body into the solitary confinement room with a satisfied smile. Additionally, the girl was punished to one meal a day to atone for her sins for a week.
By the time she was out again, she was able to walk without wincing in pain. Her back still held the scar shaped in the form of the holy cross, however the wound healed much faster, which was a surprise considering how deep Father Edgar had etched the mark on her.
She was still considered a pariah amongst other children hence she walked towards the back of the building to try and meet her friend. However, what she encountered shook her to the core once again.
The shrubs had been burnt off and in place of the calming green shrubs, only charred remains of the plants and their bark remained. She was hopeful that her little friend would have escaped the fire, but fate didn't give her that luxury. She spotted the burnt carcass of a small green snake which resembled too much like her friend. Unable to bear the torment anymore she ran back to the dorms and hid beneath the cot crying into her arms till unconsciousness took over.
Once lively brown eyes now became lifeless, her bushy dark brown hair was a mess and stayed matted to her forehead. Dressed up in the rags the orphanage provided, she looked more like an old and discarded doll. No longer her face held the smile that had the warmth to melt the stoniest of hearts.
All she could now think was self preservation and finding a way to escape and survive away from this hell. She knew she had some sort of powers but didn't know how to use or control it. She secretly hoped she was actually the devil, so that at least she could use her so-called demonic powers to exact revenge on the pathetic excuse of humans that were supposed to care for her.
She wiped the sweat off her face getting up from the bed. A persistent hoot coming from the slit high on the wall guarded by bars alerted her to the presence of a brown owl. Upon closer inspection, she saw a letter attached to its talons. The owl swooped down and dropped the letter on her lap before taking its original place back high near the slit.
The envelope was addressed to
Ms Hermione Granger,
First Room on the Third Floor,
Hildreth House,
Winchester
The letter was addressed to her and the address was weirdly accurate. She was perplexed as the nuns never allowed any correspondence from the outside world. She opened the envelope and two old style parchment paper dropped out of them. She picked up the first piece of paper which read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Ms Granger,
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. A Hogwarts representative will be there for orientation and to escort the child exactly two days after the response has been submitted.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
"What in the name of hell is this!" She could not believe what she was reading. A school for witches and wizards. Another thing what it meant was that she was no demon or possessed by a spirit, she was an actual witch.
She wondered what the nuns would do in case whoever showed up for the orientation. No, she wouldn't jeopardize this opportunity, this was her one chance to escape this hell and prepare herself for retribution.
Hermione quickly searched for a pencil and a piece of paper from her notebook to pen down her reply. Once done, she waved the folded paper in the air until the owl took notice. With swift motion the owl picked up the letter and flew out of the room towards its destination, wherever the hell that was.
Hermione hoped against hope that this didn't turn out to be some sort of a cruel joke by the children or even the nuns. She would be devastated after getting her hopes high on this one.
Although it did look legitimate judging by the elaborate list of items she needed to buy for the year. Only problem was money, she didn't really have even a measly quid to her name. Maybe there was some sort of scholarship or funding for poor kids. Why else would they send me an invite if they knew I'm an orphan. She would have to wait for a couple of days until the representative arrives.
After spending all her life at Hildreth House, she felt genuine happiness for the first time. She would get to meet her own people, people who would all be well versed in magic. Maybe she'll finally make friends or get to search for her family and ancestry. There's no way at least some of her ancestors were wizards and witches.
Thanks for reading, if you liked/disliked the fic please do leave a comment. I love to read what you've got to say.
Cheers!
