James and Sirius looked at the ritual circle, then at Lily who was determined to make this work.
It was an old Black ritual, one that hadn't been used since they stopped being Druids and started being wizards.
The ritual would bind a spirit into a human body, specifically that of a new born infant. There were even runes to insure that the child would be born a specific gender, and what sort of spirit would be attracted.
Normally James would never consider using a dark ritual like this, except it seemed his karma had caught up to him in the form of a botched potion that he had made. It had boiled out, and the resulting fumes had rendered him infertile.
Which was when Sirius dug deep into his personal vault, which thankfully enough included some old ritual notes his uncle had left him on top of the gold.
And luckily for them, one of those books happened to mention a ritual that would insure a child would be concieved...and as long as the mother remained alive and unharmed for the first nine months, would be born both magical and perfectly healthy.
The only downside was that it required a lot of expensive and highly illegal ingredients, and that you would basically be shoving an unknown spirit into the body of a child. If they retained the memories of who they were before, then they could easily take offense to your actions and retaliate.
Once they explained what they were going to do, she had been all for it. She had always wanted to be a mother, after all.
James took position, as did Sirius and Lily. Three was a strong, magical number and they could only hope that this worked.
According to what they read, James would have to sleep with his wife once the ritual got going properly while Sirius held the runic circle to insure the spirit was properly bound. It was unbelievably awkward, considering Sirius would have to watch them going at it, but it would be worth every moment if Lily became pregnant.
Right in the middle of the ritual, the air became unspeakably cold. As if winter itself was planning to manifest in the room with full fury, mixed with the mischievous and often terrifying force of the wind.
Lily and James shivered, but kept going. They could all feel the pull of magic in the room and there was no way to tell what would happen if they stopped now.
Lily felt something flow into her soul. It felt as though she was being possessed by Jack Frost himself as she began to shiver uncontrollably. That feeling then migrated to where her womb was, before settling.
It would take her hours before she felt properly warm again, and three weeks before they could confirm the ritual took.
Either way, Lily would never forget the unspeakable cold that came from the ritual. The moment winter hit, she could feel it in her bones.
For the longest time, Heather Corona Potter had felt as though her skin was too tight. As if it contained a force too great for a mere mortal shell to handle properly without something horrible happening.
It didn't help that when she went to get her first wand, that Ollivander told her point blank that he had nothing he could sell her. Her power simply refused to be contained by a mere wand.
She would have to get a staff instead.
The problem was Ollivander didn't know where to find a staff, as they had gone out of fashion over a century ago once wands became more prevalent. Add in to the fact that the requirement to cast with one was considerably higher than with a wand, and it would be difficult to find anyone who could make one.
She would have to dig through her family vaults and see if she could find one there that would suit her. Her power levels were simply too high to be safely contained with a wand.
Hagrid had to return the package to Dumbledore, and there was no way she could return to Diagon on her own since her aunt and uncle had tried so very hard to keep her from going to Hogwarts in the first place.
She would have to rent a room and look through her vault tomorrow. Fortunately there was only a few days before the train was to leave, so she had plenty of time to look. And the pub was close enough to the train station that she could get a cab.
Hopefully.
As Heather looked in her family's vaults, she was struck by how much bigger it was on a closer inspection. Apparently the only thing she was able to access with the key she had was her trust vault.
The goblins had been disgusted with her lack of insight towards her inheritance and were all too happy to charge her double what it would cost to have all of the keys replaced.
Just when she was about to give up, she heard a hoot from her new owl Winter.
Heather followed the sound of Winter's hoot, and that's when she saw it.
It was a staff a little taller than her, roughly five and a half feet or so in height and in the shape of a sheppard's crook. She couldn't rightly tell what sort of wood it was made of, but there was an undercurrent of 'cold' from it, likely why Winter had been drawn to it.
She cautiously touched the wood...and felt her magic thrum in delight and happiness.
Her hand grasped the middle, and she could feel her power sing with delight...almost as if she was greeting a long-lost friend that she hadn't seen in ages, but was more than happy to stay by her side if given a choice. The sort of friend that had your back no matter what and would always be there when you truly needed it.
She didn't know long she stood there, reveling in her magic singing, but once Winter hooted again, she left the vault.
She had her focus, which was all that mattered.
She did have to wonder why the goblins stiffened at the sight of her staff.
Considering the number of stares she got for it, since everyone else used wands, she wondered if there was a way to hide the fact that she had a staff instead.
As if it heard her thought, the staff in her hands shrank as much as it possibly could...which was a little over a fifth of the original size. She debated on how to hold it, until she settled on the allowing the crook to be seen. It just felt wrong holding that part in her hand, as if she was trying to cast upside down.
It was a good thing she had converted some of her newly found gold into pounds. She was able to buy a small set of wheels that she screwed onto the trunk which made it far easier to lug around. It would have been awkward trying to haul the heavy trunk into the cab otherwise. Winter was very unhappy with the cage, but put up with it.
It was a good thing Tom had been kind enough to tell her which pillar to go through, otherwise she would have been stuck as Hagrid didn't tell her that part. Even if it was very weird to run through the third platform between nine and ten. That plus she had the presence of mind to get a lunch for later, after hearing from some of the patrons that the only person selling food was the old cart witch that sold candy.
She held her breath for a moment when she saw the train. It was beautiful, even if the noise level was horrendous.
Heather managed to get her trunk into the first compartment she could find, and sat down with her small satchel against her side. It was filled with fiction books, since she finally had the money to buy all the fantasy novels she had been denied by the Dursleys.
Even a hint of anything with magic in it was banned outright... though now she had a good idea why.
She let Winter out, and settled with her back against the window and her nose in a book. Ever since she had learned how to read, she loved books. She read any scrap of parchment she could get her hands on, though she became much more discreet about what she took home after Petunia threw a complete fit at seeing something as mundane as Red Riding Hood in her hands.
The compartment opened, but for some odd reason no one came in. Heather was so engrossed in the adventures of Bilbo and the company of dwarves that she didn't even notice the fact her staff had switched back to it's full form, or that the compartment was considerably colder than it was anywhere else.
Eventually she was left alone, as the other students were disinclined to enter a compartment so cold when there were others to be found. A few of them even cast odd glances at the staff leaning against her legs.
Halfway through the trip, the trolley witch showed up and Heather ordered a few chocolate frogs and some licorice. It was then she realized how hungry she was, and dove into her lunch. Fortunately she had picked up a few normal sandwiches before she got on the train...they were colder than she expected, but they were still far healthier than anything Dudley or Vernon would eat.
She was almost done with her third one when the door opened.
"Have you seen a toad? Neville's lost one."
"If one came in here, I haven't seen it," said Heather.
The girl's eyes landed on her staff.
"What is that?" she asked sharply, with a disapproving tone in her voice.
Heather looked at what she was staring at, before rolling her eyes.
"My staff."
"Those aren't allowed you know. The school only accepts wands."
"The list only said wands because staffs went out of favor over a century ago. Likely because they were less bulky," said Heather flatly. "How long has this toad been missing?"
"About an hour and a half."
"Then it can't have come in here, because I've had that door closed the entire time save for when the trolley witch came half an hour ago," said Heather. "And before that, there were enough people that if it had tried to come in here it likely would have been squished by their feet."
"You're going to get into trouble you know," said the girl primly.
"If the teachers have a problem with the fact I have to use a staff to cast magic instead of a wand, they can take it up with Ollivander. He's the one who told me to look elsewhere for a focus," said Heather. "Can you leave? I would like to get back to my book."
The girl huffed in irritation, before all but slamming the door closed.
"What a prude," scowled Heather.
She finished up her sandwiches and candy, before cautiously closing the blinds so she could get changed. She had no idea when the train was about to reach the other station and she would rather be prepared.
She had just taken off her shirt and was about to put on her uniform top when the door opened. Heather shrieked, and grabbed her staff to send the intruder flying.
There on the other side of the door was an older teen with a red and gold tie, looking like he had gotten a minor concussion. He had a badge on his shirt and red hair.
Heather swiftly closed the door, put on her top and went to check on the fool who didn't bother to knock.
"What's going on here?" demanded a girl wearing blue and bronze, she had a similar badge on her shirt, though it had an eagle rather than a lion.
"This creep didn't even bother to knock when he opened the door, despite the fact I had the blinds closed for a reason!" said Heather incensed.
The other girl blinked.
"What were you doing?"
"I was changing into my uniform since I had no idea how much longer we have until we reach the station. I had my shirt off when he opened the door without any warning," said Heather.
The girl scowled at him.
"Then it's his own fault for not checking first," she said flatly, giving the other boy a glare.
Honestly, he should have knocked when he saw the blinds were closed, especially this close to the school. Not everyone came onto the train with their uniforms already on!
"What hit me?" he groaned.
"That would be the train," said the girl. "Honestly Percy, did it ever occur to you to knock first? Why did you try to enter the compartment anyway?"
Percy sat up, and winced at the knot on his head.
"One of the first years told me another student had brought a staff on the train," he said. "I came to see if she was telling the truth, or if she simply mistook it for a broom."
"For the love of... Am I going to have to defend the fact none of the wands at Ollivanders would take to me to everyone?" complained Heather.
"Wait, what?" said the older girl.
"I went to Ollivander's to get a wand, and none of them worked for me at all. He told me to check my family vault for a different focus, because my magic wasn't compatible with the generic wands he sold in his shop. I went digging and managed to find a staff that my magic liked before the deadline was up," explained Heather patiently. "If the teachers have a problem with that, they can take it up with him."
"What house are you in?" demanded Percy crabbily, likely because he was still miffed about the fact a girl younger than he was managed to knock him on his ass. He clearly planned to complain to their head of house the second he was off the train.
The other girl rolled her eyes.
"Use your eyes Percy... the girl is obviously a firstie. Besides, you're the idiot who tried to walk into her compartment without knocking while she was changing. She had every right to defend herself," said the older girl.
Percy, if that was his name, stalked off in a bad mood and with a really nasty headache.
"Sorry about him...he has always been insufferable, and it's likely gotten worse now that he's a prefect. Are you alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine. I'm fairly certain I hit him hard enough that even if he saw anything, the concussion would have blurred anything important," said Heather.
The older girl chuckled.
"My name is Penelope Clearwater, and if Percy gives you any trouble let me know."
"Heather Potter," she replied, and wondered why Penelope's eyes widened a bit at the name.
"Anyway the train should be reaching the station in about an hour or so. Do you want me to stand guard while you finish changing?"
"I'm fine. After what just happened I'm going to lock the door and give Winter full permission to maul anyone who tries to open it before I'm done," said Heather.
"Winter?"
Hearing a hoot, Penelope looked into the compartment to see a gorgeous snow owl and a staff a little taller than the firstie before her. She had to grin when she saw the book, half-finished on the seat, before she registered the lack of other people inside.
"Did your friends ditch you when you went to get changed?"
"No one bothered to enter the compartment at all. It opened several times while we were at the station, but no one came inside. I've been in there all by my lonesome the entire ride," said Heather.
Penelope made a decision.
"Tell you what, you get changed and you can sit with me and my friends. We have more than enough room for one more, even if you brought your owl with you."
"What about my trunk?"
"Leave it. House elves deliver all the trunks to the school, along with the pets once we arrive while everyone's at the sorting."
"I'll finish getting changed then," said Heather brightly. Finally, someone to talk to!