Searching for Desire
By Vertically Challenged Poncho
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Harry Potter books. Do I honestly have to type that at the beginning of each chapter?
Author's notes: Just a few things I forgot to mention. 1. This is an edited repost of an idea from a few months ago. 2. The rating is just for safety.
Sighing, Ella strolled aimlessly around the courtyard of the orphanage where she had resided since she was a wee little girl. Ever since her parents had died, leaving her all alone with no other living relatives at the age of one year. Not that Ella minded very much. Sure it would be nice to have living parents, but she had long since accepted the fact that they were gone and she would never meet them.
The only thing bothering Ella at the moment was that there was simply nothing to do at the orphanage during the summer holiday. I mean to say there are only so many times you can read The Wizard of OZ before being able to recite the entire thing by heart.
During the school year, Ella was usually made to do her schoolwork and nothing more. Ella enjoyed learning, this was true; one may go as far as to say that she had a grand thirst for knowledge. However, Ella didn't like to actually do the schoolwork too much. She much preferred to learn the information from experience. Besides she ordinarily grasped the topic to be learnt right away and needn't bother with all the mindless work that went along with it.
Anyway, at the moment Ella was highly bored. She didn't have too many friends at the orphanage. Not that she wasn't nice to them, or they to her. It's just that the other girls at the orphanage didn't quite understand her. Ella was always making odd things happen. Not on purpose (well, most of the time. Ella did have quite the affinity for practical jokes), but strange occurrences did seem to happen whenever Ella was around. For example, just this morning there had been eggs served for breakfast and Ella –not being a big fan of eggs- had wished for waffles. Right before her eyes, Ella's plastic plate of scrambled eggs transformed with a puff of scarlet smoke into a silver platter of Belgian waffles complete with maple syrup and golden margarine.
Ella chuckled to herself as she recalled the dumbstruck looks that had been painted all over rest of the orphans and nuns when Ella had been presented with that scrumptious breakfast and they were left to dine on their grubby plates of tasteless eggs.
Of course, even if Ella didn't make bizarre things happen and if she did have friends at the orphanage, she still wouldn't have anybody to play with right now because nearly all of the orphans got shipped away to foster homes every summer holiday. Not Ella, though. Nope, foster parents never wanted Ella. Sure, at first they would see Ella and want to take her home, but as soon as their hair turned bright pink and their front teeth got knocked up their right nostrils, the foster parents didn't want anything to do with Ella. For the life of her, Ella couldn't figure out why things like that always happened around perspective parents. Ella liked to pretend that it was because her parents were still with her somehow and they didn't want anyone else taking care of her. But that sugar coated dream never lasted long because as soon as Ella sent the foster parents away, all of the nuns who cared for the orphans would round on Ella like vultures on a dead carcass.
As Ella lay on the soft blades of grass in the courtyard beside a stone fountain partially encased with moss, she pondered all of this and began to wish –as she so often did- that there was some explanation as to why unusual things always happened around her and why she didn't fit in with rest of the orphans and why she could never find it in herself to believe others when they told her that her parents are dead.
Still searching for the answers to these questions and staring up at the fluffy clouds basking in the sea above, Ella saw a strange bird flying towards the courtyard. No, thought Ella, that's incorrect, the bird is flying towards…me.
As the large bird came nearer, Ella identified it as some sort of owl. That's strange, thought Ella; I've never even seen an owl at nighttime let alone in broad daylight. The bird rested upon the edge of the fountain and –much to Ella's further bewilderment- dropped an envelope in her lap.
Hesitantly, Ella picked up the envelope and read with mounting confusion who it was addressed to.
Miss Arabella G. Hathaway
18 Winter Grove Lane
The lower bunk beside the window
St. Genesius' Orphanage, London
Upon reading this, Ella didn't know whether it was now safe to open because it was most definitely hers or to extinguish of the letter altogether because whoever was writing it was most definitely a stalker.
Deciding on the former, because Ella so rarely got mail and was at the moment particularly eager for answers, she carefully pried apart the wax stamp that bore a lion, a snake, a badger, and an eagle and took out the piece of parchment enclosed.
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 Miss Hathaway,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
"Sister Kathy! Sister Kathy!" Ella ran through the stone corridors of the orphanage, waving the letter above her head, shouting madly for her main guardian at the orphanage.
"Quiet down girl." The nun chastised her. "What is it you want?"
"I've just gotten this letter and it appears absolutely absurd." Ella told her.
"Let me see that." Sister Kathy took the letter from Ella. Sister Kathy's eyes widened as she read further along the letter.
"Come with me." Sister Kathy grabbed Ella's wrist and led her along the familiar path to Mother Superior's quarters. What had she done wrong this time? Ella thought. She didn't even know this McGonagall person, how could it have been her fault?
"Wait here." The nun told her as she went through the thick oak doors to Mother Superior's office. Ella plunked herself down on the ancient chest that served as the troublemaker's bench. She had sat there countless times before. Every time she accidentally made something strange happen. She had been made to wait on this chest so many times, in fact, that she had discovered a way to eavesdrop on the nuns' conversation.
Cautiously, Ella pulled a hairpin from her pocket (she never wore them in her hair, but they were essential for picking the many locks at St. Genesius Orphanage) and begun to carefully twist it around in the lock of the trunk. Working quickly, Ella hopped off the trunk and took from it a glass from the orphanage's kitchen and pressed it against the door to Mother Superior's door.
"You'll have to tell her everything." Mother Superior's voice said. Everything? Ella wondered. What was everything?
"Everything?" Sister Kathy asked
"Yes, everything." Mother Superior snapped.
"Me?"
"Yes, you. Have your ears broken?"
"My apologies mother. I will speak to Ella at once."
Ella jumped out of her intense haze of curiosity and threw the glass back in the trunk. The copper doorknob began to turn, finding Ella sitting nonchalantly on the trunk. Only from behind would one see the frantic movements of Ella's hand fidgeting with the lock and hairpin.
Sister Kathy exited the office.
"Come with me." Ella allowed Sister Kathy to lead the way and she smoothly stood up as she slid the hairpin out of the locked trunk.
Sister Kathy led Ella to her own office, which was also highly familiar to Ella. Sister Kathy's office had hardly any paraphernalia about it to personalize the place. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that she kept all the furniture well-dusted and shiny, one would believe the office to have been unused for years.
"Tea?" the nun asked as Ella launched herself comfortably into a chair in front of Sister Kathy's desk.
"Please!" Ella said enthusiastically. It was rare that she was offered tea when she was having a one on one with a nun. You don't usually get tea when you're being punished.
"How many lumps?"
"One please."
Sister Kathy gave Ella her scolding tea and took a sip out of her own cup. She seemed to be contemplating where to begin.
"The letter you received was not a fraud."
"Never thought it was." Ella said simply as she blew on her tea to cool it off.
"Mother Superior says you are to attend the school."
"No!" Ella shrieked. She had burned her tongue on her tea as Sister Kathy was speaking "Wait. What did you say?"
Sister Kathy pursed her lips, ignoring the girl's lack of manners, "I said that Mother Superior says you are to attend the school."
"Send her my thanks." Ella said. "May I go now?" she desperately wanted to put some ice on her stinging tongue.
"I am not finished, Miss Hathaway."
Ella sat back and bowed her head in sorry obedience.
"As you may have inferred from the letter, you are a witch."
Of course, Ella had inferred that, but that didn't alter the fact that if sent chills up her spine to hear it spoken out loud.
"That being said," Sister Kathy continued, "It is time for you to learn who your parents were."
"You knew who they were?" Ella exclaimed, "You've known and you always told me you didn't?"
Sister Kathy, as usual, was not perturbed in the slightest by Ella's outburst. That's why Sister Kathy had been made Ella's main guardian, her calmness did not falter during all of Ella's escapades and accidents.
"As you will learn, the magical world is one of great secrecy. We were not permitted to tell you of your true identity until you were accepted to Hogwarts. On that note, you are not to speak the truth of your leave to any of the other girls. Tell them you have been accepted into a gifted school that you parents attended."
"M-my parents attended?" she sputtered
"That is what you are to tell them, Miss Hathaway." Ella's face fell. "However, it is none the less true."
Ella could've sworn she saw Sister Kathy's lip curl up slightly at the corners.
"So, what else do you know about them?" Ella was eager to hear all she could about the parents she never knew.
"Their names were Reese and Kurt Hathaway. You were their first and only child. From what I hear they were a great witch and wizard they died of alcohol poisoning."
"They were drinkers?" Ella's picture perfect parents were dissolving before her eyes.
"No, somebody actually poisoned their liquor."
Had they not been discussing her parent's death, Ella would have burst out laughing at the irony.