Last updated on January 14, 2003
Except for Mariannah who is obviously my own creation, all the other characters here belong to J.K. Rowling.
This chapter was revised! :-) Please check out the news on "Author's Notes & News updated every now and then" (which is usually the last chapter of this story).
I'd like to thank the Harry Potter Lexicon () for all the invaluable resource, which helped me make this fan-fic. I'd also like to thank John Williams for creating such an excellent score for the Harry Potter movies. They were fuel for my imagination as well. Finally, thanks to all the other song artists and fan-fic authors. Without them, this story wouldn't materialize at all.
The Beginning
"Mariannah Potter."
A young girl of eight stepped forward and moved towards the stool. "Ah, yes!" said Professor Dumbledore. "You're James' sister, aren't you?"
"Yes, sir," said the girl. Professor Dumbledore nodded. "It's very rare that we receive a student younger than the age of ten. You probably are the first one in the history of Hogwarts. Well then, continue with the sorting."
The girl nodded towards the headmaster and happily climbed on top of the stool. Professor McGonagall put the sorting hat on Mariannah's head. Her head disappeared underneath the hat as she was too small to wear it. "Hey James," said Sirius Black. "Won't your sister suffocate under the hat? I mean, look at it!" James was worried himself.
Suddenly, the hat shouted, "I cannot sort this child!" The Headmaster was surprised. "What do you mean, sorting hat?" "I will not sort her!" the hat said defiantly. "I will have to have a little chat with you first, Headmaster, before I continue any further." Professor Dumbledore motioned to Professor McGonagall to remove the hat from the girl and give the hat to him. Professor McGonagall complied. As soon as Professor Dumbledore wore the hat, it began to pour out its thoughts.
"Do you know what you have here, Professor Dumbledore? You have a Gryffindor Guardian on your hands!" said the sorting hat privately to Professor Dumbledore. The old wizard was dumbstruck. "Are you sure?"
"I'm positive," said the hat.
Professor Dumbledore nodded. "But you still have to sort her," said Professor Dumbledore. "I cannot tell her that she is a Guardian. Not yet. I still have to prove to her and to myself that she is. I will give her the usual tests and we shall take it from there, yes?"
"All right then," agreed the hat. Professor Dumbledore took off the hat and returned it to Professor McGonagall for Mariannah to try on again. All the while, Mariannah had been scanning the room and her eyes rested upon a particular boy on the Slytherin table. He seemed alone despite the fact that other students flanked him. She was intrigued. The more she looked at him, the more she felt like she has known him all her life. The boy soon noticed her staring and he sneered at her. Mariannah just cocked her head to one side and smiled a very strange smile. "Ok then," said Professor McGonagall. "Let's have you try out the hat again."
The hat was placed on her head and was about to immediately call out "Gryffindor" when something strange happened. Even the sorting hat seemed to be shocked. Instead of shouting the intended house, it had suddenly called out, "Slytherin!" The Gryffindor house was in a ruckus, particularly the Gryffindor Marauders: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. It took sometime before Professor Dumbledore was able to get the students to quiet down.
All the while, Mariannah still held her gaze with the boy. The boy wasn't sneering anymore and even seemed entranced. It wasn't until his seatmate nudged him in the ribs that he realized what he was doing. "What's with you, Severus?" said the student. "You've been staring at that girl since she first looked at you!"
"She's not Slytherin material!" cried James. "She's my sister! She should be in Gryffindor!"
James and Mariannah Potter were in the headmaster's chambers. Professor Dumbledore himself was still talking to the hat, trying to figure out what had happened. "I'm there because I told the hat to place me there!" said the girl calmly.
"Precisely!" confirmed the hat. "But why?" asked Professor Dumbledore.
"Because of the boy!" said the hat. "Boy?" asked James. "What boy?"
"The boy at the Slytherin table. He seemed sad and alone. He... well... piqued my curiosity. He actually looked interesting. I wanted to know him."
"Describe the boy," James prodded.
"Well," began the girl. "He has black hair. Looked greasy. Shoulder-length. Hooked nose..."
James was horrified. "You... you... you just described Snape!"
"Oh," Mariannah innocently replied. "Is that Severus? The one you kept talking about at home during summer?"
"Are you telling me you feel sorry for Snape? That greasy..."
"Mr. Potter!" said Professor Dumbledore. "Please!"
"But... but... professor..."
"Enough!" Professor Dumbledore had said it with such finality that James had to shut up. "I will hear no more of this. Now my dear..." Professor Dumbledore returned his attention to Mariannah. "I'm very impressed by your abilities. It's not everyday that a child your age can change the sorting hat's decision just as it's about to declare it. Nevertheless, the hat says your abilities are very advanced. So if you don't mind, I'd like to administer some tests. Nothing too hard, don't worry. Just something to gauge your abilities."
The little girl nodded at the headmaster. "OK," agreed Mariannah. "When do we begin?"
The test took the whole of the next day. When she finished, the teachers were completely astounded. Even James was surprised. His sister passed even the most difficult seventh year tests with ease. She could have easily taken top marks on her O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s if she wanted to take them now. By Merlin, she even surpassed me! thought James.
"My dear," began Professor Dumbledore. "You've passed every single test we gave you. Your abilities amaze even myself. But I cannot put you in the first year classes. You will surely be bored with the lessons there. In fact, I don't know where to put you at all! So instead, I want you to decide what year you want to be placed in."
"What year is Severus?" asked the girl.
"Wait a minute!" retorted James. "You can't study with the fifth years! You're too young! You'll just feel out of place among the fifteen year-olds."
"Will you make her feel that way, James?" said Professor Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye. James was dumbfounded. "W-well, of course not, sir!"
"Being the big brother that you are, I am sure you can protect your sister from the dangers of being with fifth year students." Professor Dumbledore smiled.
"But I can't protect her while she's in the Slytherin house, Professor!"
"Then I shall call on Mr. Snape and ask him to guard your sister while she's over at the Slytherins." That was the end of the discussion.
After everyone had left, Professor Dumbledore was left looking out the window of his office, staring into the darkening sky. "Why didn't you tell her about the Gryffindor Guardian?" asked the hat from it's resting place. "Not yet," replied Professor Dumbledore. "As much as she seems to know everything needed to fight Voldemort, she is still after all only eight. Besides..." Professor Dumbledore closed his eyes in thought. "It's only the first sign. We can't be sure until we see the second sign. Then we tell her who she is."
"Hello!"
"Argh!" Severus jumped from his seat at the sound. He turned around to see Mariannah staring at him again. "Oh. It's you," he said as he went back to his seat.
"My name's Mariannah..."
"Yes, I know. James's sister," he sneered. "What do you want?" A few hours ago, he had been called by the headmaster and was told to take care of his enemy's sister while she was in the Slytherin house. After he came out, the Marauders confronted Snape, threatening to tear him limb from limb if anything happened to Mariannah while she was in his care. It really wasn't his day and he didn't think it could get any worse... until now.
"Nothing much," she said with all innocence. "I just wanted to ask if I could sit with you."
"Sure, whatever you want to do," Severus replied callously. "Just don't disturb me right now. I'm trying to finish my potions homework." Mariannah sat quietly by his side and propped her head on her arms, observing how Severus concocted his potion. Severus was about to add some wormwood to the mixture when she suddenly stopped him. "Wait! You shouldn't add that!" she said. Severus faced her, seething with anger. "I told you not to disturb me!"
"Well, I'm sorry," Mariannah said in defiant manner. She straightened up. "But you should read up on your recipe first before putting in the wormwood. Otherwise, you might find yourself in trouble." She got off her stool and walked back towards the common room. Severus' eyes followed Mariannah as she left. Severus mumbled something as he put down the wormwood and searched his pockets for a piece of paper. He finally found it and began reading off the recipe. She was right! If he had added the wormwood, his potion might have reacted in such a way it would leave him in the hospital wing for weeks. He put down the recipe and stared towards the common room. But how did she know about the potion? None of the other students have learned this recipe yet...
To be continued...