Disclaimer: Not mine, belongs to J.K.R. (except for the story and the OC)
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Chapter 1: So It Begins
Albus Brian Wulfric Percival Dumbledore, the current Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was waiting near the gates leading to Hogwarts´ grounds.
He was an elderly wizard, very respected by the wizarding community. His crooked nose, half-moon spectacles and long silvery beard made him look like a wizard described in Muggle stories. He was described wise, powerful, for there was a strange power emanating from him – a magical one. His very appearance was intriguing, majestic, accompanied with an amused look and a twinkle in his eyes. Yes, a twinkle in his eyes was always necessary. No mater what happened, the Headmaster was always cheerful but – he always faced many challenges with ease. Seeing a grave look on his face was only the result of lord Voldemort´s and the Death Eaters´ activities.
The wizarding world was trying to survive very dark times. Death Eaters, under the rule of lord Voldemort destroyed the community, feeling of safety by murdering and attacking people – even the Muggles.
However, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a safe place to hide the students from the cruelties and horrors of real life. Lord Voldemort never dared to come to Hogwarts, for Albus Dumbledore was considered being the most powerful wizard and a very strong opponent for the Dark Lord himself. That was the reason why he wanted her granddaughter, Felicity Dumbledore, to transfer from Durmstrang Institute to Hogwarts. Hogwarts were safe and he could keep an eye on her. However, Durmstrang was a school oriented in teaching the Dark Arts; the school was also known thanks to the Death Eaters, who mostly came from this school.
His granddaughter, who he was waiting for, appeared out of thin air, literally. When he saw the young woman, he smiled kindly, a twinkle playing in his eyes.
In that instant, the girl rushed to him and hugged him tightly.
"Grandpa!" she exclaimed. "It´s been a long time since I last saw you!" She looked up at him, smiling widely.
"Yes, Felicity, it has," he smiled at her over his crooked nose and hugged her back. "Come, I´ll introduce you to the staff and give you the grand tour."
He offered her the arm and Felicity took it, grinning.
They reached the castle in comfortable silence, entering the Great Hall and walking up to the staff table. It was lunchtime and all professors were already eating their meal. There were two seats left – Headmaster´s seat and a seat to its right, maybe for some professor, thought Felicity.
When they walked through the door, every profesor had their gaze resting upon them, curiosity written over their face. It wasn´t common that a student spent his summer Holiday at Hogwarts.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and began, "I´d like to introduce you my granddaughter, Felicity Dumbledore, she has transferred from Durmstrang Institute to finish her seventh year at Hogwarts." His eyes twinkled as the professors looked from him to Felicity and then back to him.
"Felicity, meet our fabulous staff. I´m sure you´ll have the opportunity to find out who will be teaching you which subject," said Dumbledore merrily, his eyes still twinkling.
Then, she was led by Dumbledore to the staff table and as she came near, a small man jumped out of his seat, enthusiasm in his voice.
"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Dumbledore! I´m Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher." Felicity shook his hand politely and turned to face a stern-looking woman with a bun tied neatly on top of her head.
"This, Felice, is Minerva McGonnagall, Transfigurations Professor," informed Dumbledore.
Again, Felicity shook McGonnagall´s hand and the same happened with every professor. When she finished shaking all those hands that have been outstretched to her, Felicity finally took a seat and helped herself with some food.
Later that afternoon, Dumbledore showed her around the castle. When they finished their tour around Hogwarts (which obviously took some time), both of them returned to Dumbledore´s Office.
"Now you will get sorted as there are houses in this school – Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff," said Dumbledore as he took the Sorting Hat from the shelf.
"Which house were you in, Grandpa?"
"Gryffindor. I was always the brave one," he chuckled.
"So Gryffindor´s for the brave ones?" asked Felicity curiously.
"Mostly. But remember, even wise people can be brave. And that´s for the Hat to decide in which House you should be."
Felicity nodded. "And other Houses... Are they represented with some skill or some kind of personality?"
Dumbledore chuckled again. "Clever as always," he looked at her from behind his half-moon spectacles. Felicity gave him a little smile.
"Mostly the brave people are in Gryffindor, the clever ones are in Ravenclaw. Hufflepuffs are known as true friends and lastly, Slytherins, people who are independent, clever too and they are mostly interested only about what is good for their own sake. Word cunning would be an adequate one," he smiled.
"Now let´s get you sorted."
Felicity nodded and took a step forwards, then another one, until she stood in front of Dumbledore. Then, everything became dark as the Sorting Hat has been placed over her head.
Ah, a clever one, aren´t you? spoke a voice in her head. Loyal and to an extent selfish too. But brave even. Hmm... You would make success in any House, but Slytherin or Gryffindor would suit you best. Where would you like to go...? asked her the Hat.
I have no idea, just put me somewhere, responded Felicity.
Very well then, it shall be „GRYFFINDOR!" said the Hat aloud.
Dumbledore took the Sorting Hat off her head, beaming positively.
"Splendid. I shall inform Minerva that she has a new student. If you will need help, feel free to visit me or Professor McGonnagall anytime. The password to my office is ´Sugar Quills´."
"Okay," replied Felicity. "Grandpa, would you mind if I´d just explored the school on my own?"
"No, not at all. If you get lost, ask the portraits for the way," chuckled Dumbledore lightly.
Felicity wandered around the school and somehow managed to end in the library. She enjoyed reading books and so she headed inside only to collide with madam Pince, the librarian.
"I´m sorry," apologized Felicity, as she steadied herself. Then, she helped madam Pince to stand up.
"Be careful where you walk, young lady," she scowled at her, waved her wand and the books flew back into her arms.
"Yes Ma´am."
"I assume you´d like to read some books. Feel free to look around but I warn you, Miss Dumbledore, handle the books with respect, many of them are older than you and are worth more than just few Galleons." Madam Pince looked her up and down, sending her a warning look.
"Yes Ma´am," replied Felicity before she ran off to the bookshelves.
The library was quite big and Felicity decided to look around first. There were many separate aisles, each chosen for books that were related to the necessary topic. Then, there was the Restricted Section containing books which were available only thanks to a permission given from a professor. However, she was sure that she would sneak in there many times even without a permission. Respectful was she, yes, however, she didn´t lack the courage to do something that was against school rules. Maybe it wasn´t a good example, the Headmaster´s granddaughter breaking rules, but every teenage girl or boy would actually do the same.
When she finished her tour in the library, it was an early evening as she realized. Deciding that it would be good to show up at dinner, reluctantly, she left the library.
"Felicity! I assume you get lost as you came a bit late for the dinner?" her grandfather asked lightly.
"Umm, no actually. I was in the library, I just lost the track of time," she mumbled apologetically as she sat next to him.
Dumbledore chuckled and some other professors joined him. Felicity was helping herself with the mashed potatoes when Professor Slughorn managed a wide smile as he looked at her.
"Dear Miss Dumbledore. I heard from your grandfather that you managed to end in Gryffindor."
Another chuckle from Dumbledore.
"Well... yes," said Felicity somewhat hesitantly, for she didn´t know what his intentions were. Horace Slughorn was the school´s Potions Master, Head of the Slytherin House and as she was told by her grandfather that every Slytherin was a cunning and calculating person, including Horace Slughorn. Therefore, Slytherins shouldn´t be underestimated.
Well, he didn´t tell her directly, he was more discreet, but Felicity figured it out as she later thought about it.
"What a shame that you´re not a Slytherin!" sighed Slughorn dramatically, interrupting Felicity from her musings. "I´ve already heard about your talent at Potions! An ´O´ from O.W.Ls! My, my, and the Potions weren´t the only ones you got ´O´ from!"
She turned to look at her grandfather, eyebrow arched, inquisitive look on her face.
He returned her look with a wink and then resumed eating, engaging himself in conversation with Minerva McGonnagall.
Then, Felicity turned her attention back to Slughorn who was still rambling about what he´d heard from Dumbledore – her grades, her talents, her interests... her whole life, actally.
Even if she was respectful to professors, she found Slughorn extremely insufferable when it came to talking with him.
To keep Slughorn satisfied, Felicity just nodded and answered him shortly when she thought it was appropriate.
When everybody finished eating, Felicity had been rescued from Slughorn by her grandfather.
"I assume you would like some rest, surely it has been a difficult day for you, Felice," he suggested, mouth twitching.
"Yeah, I´d love to," Felicity´s reply was accompanied with a yawn.
"I will take you to the Gryffindor Common Room," offered Dumbledore.
When they came to Common Room, Dumbledore gave the Fat Lady password (´Pumpkin juice´) and wished Felicity good night. She then went upstairs to the girls´ dormitories. Last thing she remembered was that her head hit the pillow and then fell into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning was accompanied by rainy weather, typical for September. The sky was covered in grey, rain pouring from the clouds and there was no chance for sun rays to penetrate through the thick layer of clouds.
The curtains from the four-poster bed were already thrown open, revealing crumpled bed and a stretching Felicity.
She rose up from the bed and dressed herself in casual clothes – she chose blue jeans and a light blue sweatshirt. After dressing herself, Felicity stood in front of the mirror, brushing her snow-white hair. Many people found her hair odd, yet beautiful. It wasn´t common that youngsters had white hair. When she was young, the neighbours´ children used to make fun of her – they always taunted her that she looked like a granny. At first, she was vulnerable and cried when they insulted her but later, she described her hair as extraordinary and herself as unique, for there weren´t many children that had white hair. She learned to defend herself and soon they became her friends and admired her.
Felicity had her hair ending somewhere above her shoulder-blades which matched to her ivory skin. It was the reason why her grandfather and her parents always called her ´My little angel´ - considering her apearance, she really did look like one, mostly because of her white hair and blue eyes, which weren´t as bright as her grandfather´s. They were some kind of sapphire-blue, maybe a bit darker.
After finishing examining herself in the mirror, Felicity descended the stairs and went to the Great Hall for breakfast.
"Did you sleep well, angel?" asked her Dumbledore as he joined her on the marble staircase leading to the Great Hall.
"Yes, thank you, Grandpa. Looks like today´s going to be boring," Felicity stated when she looked at the castle grounds.
Dumbledore chuckled. "Would be a trip to Diagon Alley boring? You need a school uniform. I already managed to get you the schoolbooks, potion ingredients and other necessary items. They´re in your room."
"A trip? Great! But... Grandpa, I didn´t find any books or something else in the room when I woke up," added Felicity slowly.
"Well, perhaps you picked the wrong room. Seventh years´ dormitories are at the top of the tower," he informed her, taking a seat at the High table.
"Oh, well, that´d explain everything, because I slept in other room," she agreed, taking the vacant seat next to him and helping herself with a toast.
"Good mornin´ Professer, Miss Dumbledore," said the game-keeper. Felicity tried to remember his name to greet him back but Dumbledore helped her.
"Good morning, Hagrid," he smiled kindly at Felicity.
"Good morning, Hagrid," echoed Felicity.
"Ready fer yer trip, young lady?" asked Hagrid.
"Sure," she grinned at him. Hagrid laughed and took a seat at the end of the table.
After their breakfast, Hagrid took his pink umbrella ("It´s rainin´y´know") and led Felicity to a fireplace. They flooed directly to Madam Malkins´ and after a hour, they returned back to Hogwarts with new uniform, dress robes and another pair of robes for casual occasions such as trips to Hogsmeade – Felicity has been informed that there were trips to Hogsmeade organized once in two months.
Felicity spent the day by studying the books that her grandfather bought her and tried some spells. Next day, she has been told that the students were about to come to Hogwarts in the evening to start another term. Since that morning, she´s been excited and afraid, too. Her grandfather told her that no one knew that he had a granddaughter, so she knew that it´d be a shock and a surprise for the others. Since she was Dumbledore´s granddaughter, she was sure that she would be the main topic of gossips for few days.
In the evening, Felicity watched the students to fill in the Great Hall. Chin cupped in palm, she listened to the chattering of the students. She caught bits of conversations, such as ´Home!´ and ´Thanks god the term´s beginning!´
The students seemed to be pleased to be back at Hogwarts. She was at first surprised that some of the students called Hogwarts home. At Durmstrang, she wasn´t used to hear such friendly words and see a crowd of cheerful students excitedly talking about the beginning of the new schoolterm.
However, Hogwarts is different than Durmstrang, reminded herself Felicity.
Then, she descended the marble staircase and disappeared in the crowd of black robes. On her way to the Great Hall, she heard whispers among the other students, looks that had been shot at her, even fingers pointed. She took it that they noticed she was new.
Taking a deep breath, Felicity entered the Great Hall.
A/N: Phew, first chapter done! Yay! X3 If you´d be so kind and review – I´ll welcome constructed criticism too (it´s my first fan fiction I dared to put here at XD ). But please, kill me gently.
insane lunatic23