A/N Hello! I would just like to apologise for not writing a disclaimer or
anything on the prologue. This is my first fanfiction although I've been
reading them for ages. I do not own anything that has been written here, it
all belongs to J.K.Rowling and other clever people. Anything that is my own
is not really worth claiming anyway! Hope you enjoy and review so I can see
where to take the story, and if to continue it. Love you all k x
A letter from someone
Katie Dursley lived at Number six Privet Drive. She was an unusual girl in many ways. She was the only child of Mr and Mrs Dudley Dursley, which annoyed her father, incredibly as he had always wanted a boy. Because of this she had grown up to be as boyish as an eleven-year-old girl could be. She played football, had fights with the boys at school and never, ever even contemplated playing with dolls. However, Katie was far from perfect in her father's eyes. For one, she had not the Dursley physique that was renowned amongst the community; she was rather small and thin for her age, with long straight brown hair that stuck up slightly at the back no matter how many products her mother used to extinguish the mess that annoyed her father more than anything else in the world.
Well that was not quite true, when Katie was five she had asked her mother if she could go trick or treating at Halloween and, when her mother agreed she had approached her father that same day, asking her if he would take her shopping to buy a costume; she wanted to be a witch. At this Dudley had locked her in her room for the entire Halloween holiday. There was something about the supernatural that greatly unnerved her father, something that obviously occurred during his childhood. Something to do with the very thing he claimed didn't exist; magic.
Yet these things do not make her unusual, I'm sure you know many children with unimaginative parents. The abnormality I am speaking of isn't even known to Katie yet, though her father greatly expects it, he fears it. He had feared it ever since that Halloween eve but his suspicions had furthered when he watched his daughter light her birthday candles one year by blowing on them. He had joked that they were special candles, magic candles but this frightened Mrs Dursley, as she knew Dudley never joked, nor even mentioned the m-word. The thing was Katie is a witch, destined for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
It was the 25th of May, Katie's eleventh birthday and she woke up excited. Not only was it her birthday but it was the day her favourite football team Newcastle United were playing in the FA Cup final against their archrivals Manchester United, and her fabulous father had got her tickets as a gift. She ran downstairs to find her mother making toast. She hugged her, made herself a bowl of coco pops and grabbed the post. Under the watchful eye of her mother and father she opened her letters, each envelope showing the familiar writing of an aunt or uncle. Inside were cards wishing her a happy day and sending her money or cheques to buy the very thing she had been saving up for weeks to get; The New England kit. When she was half way through opening her letters her Grandma and Granddad arrived, after all they only lived next door at number four.
Her Granddad, a large, beefy man was the double of her father, only his hair had naturally turned a little grey over time; they even had the same eyes. Her Grandma was as un-Grandmaish as could be. She was thin, bony, and just like her Granddad and father found something about her Granddaughter repulsive, well that's what the look on her face showed anyway. That was not however the look that Petunia had on her face at present.
At this moment her brown eyes showed pure horror as she looked at the final letter in Katie's hand.
Katie stared into her Grandmas eyes. Eyes were one of the two things that had always puzzled her about her family life. The dusty green shade of her own were unlike any she had ever encountered. They were the first thing that anyone would notice when they looked at her and were the cause of her having a string of male admirers at school (who she constantly had to punch to get them to stop stalking her). The truth was her eyes were mysterious. They almost appeared fake, they never changed, even when she tried to put coloured contacts in to replace her glasses, another thing that she hated about her appearance.
It was in looking through her family photos in the hope of finding a pair of matching eyes that she discovered the other thing that puzzled her about her family. There was one photo, only one mind you, of a young boy about her age. He had raven black messy hair that stood up just like hers, he was wearing a pair of round glasses and had a scar shaped like a lightening bolt of his forehead. He looked ridiculous in old grey clothes about 5 sizes too big. To Katie this boy seemed so familiar, she half expected him to have her eyes but when she looked his were a far more authentic bright green which startled Katie.
She had later questioned her mother about this boy who was forced to admit she knew nothing of his existence so she was left to question her Grandparents, as her father was at work. Their reaction meant this 'boy' was never mentioned by her again, but he often popped up in her dreams, where the things her father had forbidden mysteriously, always came, and she would fly on motorcycles, talk to snakes and talk to the 'boy with the scar'.
As she came back to reality and realised all four of them were staring she followed their gaze to the final letter she held in her hands. It was the most peculiar of things; it was written in beautiful calligraphy and was sealed with a stamp. On the stamp was the letter 'H'.
Her father began to mutter, 'no, it can't be, I'm not, and she's not' he continued to mutter the final sentence when his father's voice boomed over the rest
'She's not going Dudley!'
Katie looked to her mother for the answer but found just astonishment and puzzlement in her gaze. She quickly ripped open the letter and read the contents.
Dear Miss Dursley,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July
Yours sincerely
Hermione Weasley Deputy Headmistress
Katie picked up the other sheet of paper and continued reading aloud
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Uniform First-year students will require 1. Three sets of plain work robes (black) 2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear 3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar) 4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings) Please note all pupils' clothes should carry name tags.
Set books All students should have a copy of each of the following: The standard book of spells (Grade 1) revised by Hermione Granger A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling A beginners' guide to transfiguration revised by Hermione Granger One Thousand and one Magical Herbs and Fungi by Neville Longbottom Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger Fantastic Beasts and where to find them by Newt Scamander The Dark Forces: A guide to Self Protection by Quentin Trimble
Other equipment 1 wand 1 cauldron 1 set glass or crystal phials 1 telescope 1 set brass scales
'Students may also bring an owl or a cat or a toad'
However the last sentence was not said by Katie but by her Grandmother. Katie stared at her Grandma in confusion.
'Y-You know what it says?'
'How could I not,' Petunia retorted, 'I've heard that bloody letter read aloud three times now, I told you Dudley, not to trust anything that's not yours... and see what you've got on your hands now, a f-f-r-reak!'
'Three times?' she questioned.
'Yes and how I wish that I'd never known about... about... abnormalities,'
Katie had never seen her quite Grandma so livid before, yet she listened with curiosity,
'First my darling sister went away, and got herself blown up because of it, we got left with the 'boy' and just when I thought we had Potter out of our lives you turn out to be one. I knew they were taking a risk adopting you, not knowing your parents and all, but what are the bloody odds!' she gasped for breath, while the room took in what she had said.
Katie looked to her mother for confirmation that this was not true, she had not been adopted, she had not been lied to all her life, but it never came, instead her mothers eyes filled with tears. It dawned on her that for the first time in her life she was being told the truth, and the reason for her father's discontent was finally revealed. Knowing not what to do, she grabbed her letter, cards and money and ran up the stairs.
'KATHRYN SIRIUS DURSLEY GET DOWN HERE!' she heard her father bellow.
'I'm not a Dursley!' she yelled back equally as loud and slammed her door. She sat with her back against her door as the true meaning of her statement settled in. She knew nothing of who she really was and she tried to piece together all the information she'd been told.
The reason why she was so different from her family finally came to light. She was adopted. Not only that, she was a witch! She wondered then, was her mother a witch? Who was her mother? She then remembered her father and grandparents faces, they must hate her, but why? It must run deeper than the fact they hated the abnormal, her grandmother had hinted at something but it didn't make sense. She recollected upon the final words her father shouted. He had called her by her full name. He'd even used her middle name, Sirius. This was never something her mother or father liked to use, often leaving her wondering why she'd been given it.
Around ten minutes later she heard footsteps. It was her mother, well no; the woman who'd brought her up. This made Katie feel a pang of sadness as she realised how much she loved this woman regardless. She had always been there for her when her father disapproved; it was her family that the eleven year old had been close to all her life, despite living metres away from her father's only relatives. It was these feelings which made her reply to her mothers call, 'come in mum.'
During the next hour Katie finally learned the truth. Her dad had had an accident in his youth, leaving him infertile. The young couple, desperately wanting children had adopted Katie when she was just a day old and brought her up as there own. She could not however, explain anything about the magical world as she herself had never been confided in. Yet she pleaded for her daughter to forgive her father. She now believed that Dudley had encountered unpleasant magic in his youth which must have resulted in his foul temper and she felt that it was only the influence of his parents which kept him that way. She had been trying for years to get him to move from the area, the street at least.
Her mother could tell her little about her biological parents, only she like her daughter now suspected them of being a witch or wizard. The only thing she knew was that they had given her the name Sirius at her birth mothers request, claiming it would mean much to all those she knew.
Katie stayed in her room all night that night; she missed the football game, telling her mother she would prefer solitude. She spent the hours kicking a ball around and thinking. By the end of the night Katie could barely sleep. She was no longer worried, she was excited. She couldn't believe it; she was going to learn magic. How cool was that.
The next day when she dared go downstairs for breakfast she found her father was there.
He barely looked at her but at his wife's request he had agreed not to say anything that would upset his adoptive daughter. He had thought much overnight and decided he was going to allow her to go to this school. If he was honest himself it was a place he himself had always wanted to spend his childhood and had been constantly jealous of his magical cousin. He had however, agreed to move away, he knew his parents would never accept her, nor treat her civil again so he had already picked out a large detached home further out in the country where his daughters abnormalities would be noticed less. He even found himself wondering if he had met the child's true family. Perhaps she was related to that tatty ginger family who often called, he hoped not because it was due to that lot that his tongue had grown to the size of a walrus. He also hoped she would have nothing to do with the large man; the first ever wizard he'd encountered, who'd found it funny to give him a pig's tail. Yet Dudley knew something his wife and child did not. You did not have to be the descendent of a magical person to possess magic yourself, and it was this that he hoped. That his daughters true parents were 'muggles' just like him and she was the abnormal one in their family. Then he reminded himself, his daughter wasn't abnormal, he looked at her as she smiled up at him, looking as innocent and happy as she ever had, and he realised something he should have accepted long ago, she's just special.
'Well Miss Dursley,' he turned to her, 'we're going to have to go and get your stuff!'
'Thanks Dad.' Katie replied grinning.
^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^
A letter from someone
Katie Dursley lived at Number six Privet Drive. She was an unusual girl in many ways. She was the only child of Mr and Mrs Dudley Dursley, which annoyed her father, incredibly as he had always wanted a boy. Because of this she had grown up to be as boyish as an eleven-year-old girl could be. She played football, had fights with the boys at school and never, ever even contemplated playing with dolls. However, Katie was far from perfect in her father's eyes. For one, she had not the Dursley physique that was renowned amongst the community; she was rather small and thin for her age, with long straight brown hair that stuck up slightly at the back no matter how many products her mother used to extinguish the mess that annoyed her father more than anything else in the world.
Well that was not quite true, when Katie was five she had asked her mother if she could go trick or treating at Halloween and, when her mother agreed she had approached her father that same day, asking her if he would take her shopping to buy a costume; she wanted to be a witch. At this Dudley had locked her in her room for the entire Halloween holiday. There was something about the supernatural that greatly unnerved her father, something that obviously occurred during his childhood. Something to do with the very thing he claimed didn't exist; magic.
Yet these things do not make her unusual, I'm sure you know many children with unimaginative parents. The abnormality I am speaking of isn't even known to Katie yet, though her father greatly expects it, he fears it. He had feared it ever since that Halloween eve but his suspicions had furthered when he watched his daughter light her birthday candles one year by blowing on them. He had joked that they were special candles, magic candles but this frightened Mrs Dursley, as she knew Dudley never joked, nor even mentioned the m-word. The thing was Katie is a witch, destined for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
It was the 25th of May, Katie's eleventh birthday and she woke up excited. Not only was it her birthday but it was the day her favourite football team Newcastle United were playing in the FA Cup final against their archrivals Manchester United, and her fabulous father had got her tickets as a gift. She ran downstairs to find her mother making toast. She hugged her, made herself a bowl of coco pops and grabbed the post. Under the watchful eye of her mother and father she opened her letters, each envelope showing the familiar writing of an aunt or uncle. Inside were cards wishing her a happy day and sending her money or cheques to buy the very thing she had been saving up for weeks to get; The New England kit. When she was half way through opening her letters her Grandma and Granddad arrived, after all they only lived next door at number four.
Her Granddad, a large, beefy man was the double of her father, only his hair had naturally turned a little grey over time; they even had the same eyes. Her Grandma was as un-Grandmaish as could be. She was thin, bony, and just like her Granddad and father found something about her Granddaughter repulsive, well that's what the look on her face showed anyway. That was not however the look that Petunia had on her face at present.
At this moment her brown eyes showed pure horror as she looked at the final letter in Katie's hand.
Katie stared into her Grandmas eyes. Eyes were one of the two things that had always puzzled her about her family life. The dusty green shade of her own were unlike any she had ever encountered. They were the first thing that anyone would notice when they looked at her and were the cause of her having a string of male admirers at school (who she constantly had to punch to get them to stop stalking her). The truth was her eyes were mysterious. They almost appeared fake, they never changed, even when she tried to put coloured contacts in to replace her glasses, another thing that she hated about her appearance.
It was in looking through her family photos in the hope of finding a pair of matching eyes that she discovered the other thing that puzzled her about her family. There was one photo, only one mind you, of a young boy about her age. He had raven black messy hair that stood up just like hers, he was wearing a pair of round glasses and had a scar shaped like a lightening bolt of his forehead. He looked ridiculous in old grey clothes about 5 sizes too big. To Katie this boy seemed so familiar, she half expected him to have her eyes but when she looked his were a far more authentic bright green which startled Katie.
She had later questioned her mother about this boy who was forced to admit she knew nothing of his existence so she was left to question her Grandparents, as her father was at work. Their reaction meant this 'boy' was never mentioned by her again, but he often popped up in her dreams, where the things her father had forbidden mysteriously, always came, and she would fly on motorcycles, talk to snakes and talk to the 'boy with the scar'.
As she came back to reality and realised all four of them were staring she followed their gaze to the final letter she held in her hands. It was the most peculiar of things; it was written in beautiful calligraphy and was sealed with a stamp. On the stamp was the letter 'H'.
Her father began to mutter, 'no, it can't be, I'm not, and she's not' he continued to mutter the final sentence when his father's voice boomed over the rest
'She's not going Dudley!'
Katie looked to her mother for the answer but found just astonishment and puzzlement in her gaze. She quickly ripped open the letter and read the contents.
Dear Miss Dursley,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July
Yours sincerely
Hermione Weasley Deputy Headmistress
Katie picked up the other sheet of paper and continued reading aloud
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Uniform First-year students will require 1. Three sets of plain work robes (black) 2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear 3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar) 4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings) Please note all pupils' clothes should carry name tags.
Set books All students should have a copy of each of the following: The standard book of spells (Grade 1) revised by Hermione Granger A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling A beginners' guide to transfiguration revised by Hermione Granger One Thousand and one Magical Herbs and Fungi by Neville Longbottom Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger Fantastic Beasts and where to find them by Newt Scamander The Dark Forces: A guide to Self Protection by Quentin Trimble
Other equipment 1 wand 1 cauldron 1 set glass or crystal phials 1 telescope 1 set brass scales
'Students may also bring an owl or a cat or a toad'
However the last sentence was not said by Katie but by her Grandmother. Katie stared at her Grandma in confusion.
'Y-You know what it says?'
'How could I not,' Petunia retorted, 'I've heard that bloody letter read aloud three times now, I told you Dudley, not to trust anything that's not yours... and see what you've got on your hands now, a f-f-r-reak!'
'Three times?' she questioned.
'Yes and how I wish that I'd never known about... about... abnormalities,'
Katie had never seen her quite Grandma so livid before, yet she listened with curiosity,
'First my darling sister went away, and got herself blown up because of it, we got left with the 'boy' and just when I thought we had Potter out of our lives you turn out to be one. I knew they were taking a risk adopting you, not knowing your parents and all, but what are the bloody odds!' she gasped for breath, while the room took in what she had said.
Katie looked to her mother for confirmation that this was not true, she had not been adopted, she had not been lied to all her life, but it never came, instead her mothers eyes filled with tears. It dawned on her that for the first time in her life she was being told the truth, and the reason for her father's discontent was finally revealed. Knowing not what to do, she grabbed her letter, cards and money and ran up the stairs.
'KATHRYN SIRIUS DURSLEY GET DOWN HERE!' she heard her father bellow.
'I'm not a Dursley!' she yelled back equally as loud and slammed her door. She sat with her back against her door as the true meaning of her statement settled in. She knew nothing of who she really was and she tried to piece together all the information she'd been told.
The reason why she was so different from her family finally came to light. She was adopted. Not only that, she was a witch! She wondered then, was her mother a witch? Who was her mother? She then remembered her father and grandparents faces, they must hate her, but why? It must run deeper than the fact they hated the abnormal, her grandmother had hinted at something but it didn't make sense. She recollected upon the final words her father shouted. He had called her by her full name. He'd even used her middle name, Sirius. This was never something her mother or father liked to use, often leaving her wondering why she'd been given it.
Around ten minutes later she heard footsteps. It was her mother, well no; the woman who'd brought her up. This made Katie feel a pang of sadness as she realised how much she loved this woman regardless. She had always been there for her when her father disapproved; it was her family that the eleven year old had been close to all her life, despite living metres away from her father's only relatives. It was these feelings which made her reply to her mothers call, 'come in mum.'
During the next hour Katie finally learned the truth. Her dad had had an accident in his youth, leaving him infertile. The young couple, desperately wanting children had adopted Katie when she was just a day old and brought her up as there own. She could not however, explain anything about the magical world as she herself had never been confided in. Yet she pleaded for her daughter to forgive her father. She now believed that Dudley had encountered unpleasant magic in his youth which must have resulted in his foul temper and she felt that it was only the influence of his parents which kept him that way. She had been trying for years to get him to move from the area, the street at least.
Her mother could tell her little about her biological parents, only she like her daughter now suspected them of being a witch or wizard. The only thing she knew was that they had given her the name Sirius at her birth mothers request, claiming it would mean much to all those she knew.
Katie stayed in her room all night that night; she missed the football game, telling her mother she would prefer solitude. She spent the hours kicking a ball around and thinking. By the end of the night Katie could barely sleep. She was no longer worried, she was excited. She couldn't believe it; she was going to learn magic. How cool was that.
The next day when she dared go downstairs for breakfast she found her father was there.
He barely looked at her but at his wife's request he had agreed not to say anything that would upset his adoptive daughter. He had thought much overnight and decided he was going to allow her to go to this school. If he was honest himself it was a place he himself had always wanted to spend his childhood and had been constantly jealous of his magical cousin. He had however, agreed to move away, he knew his parents would never accept her, nor treat her civil again so he had already picked out a large detached home further out in the country where his daughters abnormalities would be noticed less. He even found himself wondering if he had met the child's true family. Perhaps she was related to that tatty ginger family who often called, he hoped not because it was due to that lot that his tongue had grown to the size of a walrus. He also hoped she would have nothing to do with the large man; the first ever wizard he'd encountered, who'd found it funny to give him a pig's tail. Yet Dudley knew something his wife and child did not. You did not have to be the descendent of a magical person to possess magic yourself, and it was this that he hoped. That his daughters true parents were 'muggles' just like him and she was the abnormal one in their family. Then he reminded himself, his daughter wasn't abnormal, he looked at her as she smiled up at him, looking as innocent and happy as she ever had, and he realised something he should have accepted long ago, she's just special.
'Well Miss Dursley,' he turned to her, 'we're going to have to go and get your stuff!'
'Thanks Dad.' Katie replied grinning.
^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^