Title: Twist (no real reason for it, might be changed later)
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Harry Potter books, or anything else from the books, for that matter. I just occasionally kidnap them. My ideas are my own, though, so no touch.
A.N.: w00t. My first HP fanfic that I'm posting. (Yes! The horror! And to think that I've actually had more! Gasp!)
E-Gads! People will read this and write things such as "You Mary-Sue you!" "EVVVILLLL AUTHOR!" But I promise you, I will make it as un-Mary-Sue-ish as possible. I will. I hate it when characters get thrown into stories and are all-powerful and such and can do all these great things (one reason Harry ticks me off, even if he IS the main character/hero of the books.)
So, yes, bear with me, tell me what you think. Please. R&R will be appreciated greatly. And flames too. Its cold in this computer room, dammit…
***
Even before the letter from Hogwarts came, delivered by a large tawny owl, Caranora knew she was different. Her parent's having died before she could begin to remember them, she had been raised by an elderly couple by the name's of Mr. and Mrs. Smithe. The household was pleasant, although there always seemed to be an air of secrecy. Often it was that Caranora would walk into a room and the two Smithe's would stop talking suddenly, turning to smile at her pleasantly. She put these instances out of her mind, along with the times that she had somehow made the neighbor's cat turn purple.
They lived together in a small two family house in Chicago. The street they lived on was called Oakley, and it wasn't far from a grade school where Caranora was attending classes. That is, until the letter came.
The Smithe's did not seem especially surprised at the letter, and though a bit shaken, they seemed genuinely pleased.
"Well, Caranora, dear, this is exciting," Mrs. Smithe said, smiling at her. "Do you know what this means?"
The 11-year-old girl thought hard, what did it mean? The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The girl had never heard anything like this before.
"that I'm going
to learn how to cut people in half and put them back together?" She supplied
hopefully.
The fox in the corner snickered.
"Well…" Both Mr. and Mrs. Smithe chuckled at this. " Not quite. This letter you received shows that you have the power for magic. You will be learning spells."
"Real spells?" Caranora asked, surprised.
"Yes, real spells." Mrs. Smithe smiled.
"But… how do you know about this?" Caranora asked, puzzled.
The Smithe's exchanged looks. They had been in their 50's when they had agreed to take care of this girl, and had known all along that this moment would come.
"When we were younger, we had children who went to Hogwarts." The elderly couple said.
"Oh." Caranora said, surprised. She had never heard of the Smithe's having other children. "What happened to them?"
"They died, on an important mission." Mr. Smithe said gently. This saddened Caranora, but then Mrs. Smite saw this and spoke.
"Don't worry about that child. We are very proud of what they did." Mrs. Smithe smiled reassuringly. "You should go start getting ready, you only have a week left before you go."
"Really?!" Caranora exclaimed, and quickly bounded up the stairs to her room.
The fox followed her.
A few days later, Mr. Smithe brought out a box. It was longer than it was wide, and had a red and black emblem on it. The emblem was in the shape of a shield, and was divided into quarters. The top left quarter had three black diamonds on a red field, the top right a red cockatrice on a black field, the bottom left one another red cockatrice on a black field (although this cockatrice looked different), and the last quarter a big black spade on a red field.
Mr. Smithe handed it to Caranora, who opened the box slowly. Inside, on pieces of yellow tinged red crepe paper lay a length of wood.
"What is this?" Caranora asked, picking it up. The wood gave off a cold, comforting feeling. It was as familiar to her as her own arms and legs, although she had never seen it before in her life.
"That, Caranora, is a wand." Mr. Smithe said. "The man who brought you to us said it used to be your mother's, and would one day be yours."
"Wow…" Caranora held the wand carefully. Her mother's wand, the only thing connecting her to her parents.
"Well, give it a try, dear, flick it around." Mrs. Smithe said, looking on expectantly. The girl followed her suggestion, and was amazed at the result.
A spray of red, black, and silver sparkles shot out of the tip of her wand.
The fox by her feet hopped up, mouth open, trying to catch one of the flickers of light.
Caranora laughed at it, but only shortly, and quickly turned to Mr. and Mrs. Smithe.
"This is wonderful, its… its amazing." She breathed.
"Its yours." Mr. Smithe said.
The day before she left, the Smithe's took Caranora to a place called The Rook. She was fitted for her robes, then got her books and supplies. Passing a shop, Caranora looked in the window and gasped.
"What are all those animals doing there?" She asked, pressing her face against the glass. Owls were sitting sleepily in cages, and a group of rats in a cage were playing leapfrog.
"Those are pets that young, and old, wizards and witches get as familiars." Mrs. Smithe said, "Come, lets get you one."
Caranora followed her inside, looking around in wonder.
"Well, what do you like?" Mrs. Smith asked. "There are owls, rats, cats, toads…"
Caranora was reluctant to pick from what she saw. The owls were nice, but not exactly what she wanted, and cats… maybe. She looked at the toads, and decided against one. It was then that something caught her eye.
A white rat sat in the corner of the cage, ignored by the other rats. Caranora felt a pang of sympathy for the rat, and she crossed over to the cage and picked him up. The rat sat in her hand, scared for a few moments. It looked up at her, blinked its red-pink eyes.
"I'll take him," She said.
The fox jumped onto the counter, then onward to a pole, from which hung a cage containing a big, inky black raven.
Caranora looked after it, and gasped.
"Can I have him too?" She asked.
"Well…" Mrs. Smithe seemed reluctant, but Mr. Smith nudged her encouragingly. "I guess, if you really want it."
"Excuse me, sir," Mr. Smithe said, asking the man behind the counter, "Will a raven carry mail?"
"'Course," The man said, "'Specially if it likes its owner. Damn loyal birds, ravens."
"We'll take him," Mr. Smithe said.
***
So, yes, chapter 2 will be up… lets see, Sunday? Monday? Whenever I get my lazy ass off of comic sites and message boards to do it? Yeah, that seems right. ^-^ Please R&R, it will be greatly appreciated. Thankies.