In the morning, Azalea woke up in the most comfortable bed she had ever had the pleasure of sleeping in. No longer did she sleep on the broken cot locked in the cupboard under the stairs at Number Four Privet Drive. No, she was in a safe warm bed, far, far away from that horrid house. The six-year-old girl had never been more comfortable. Maybe she wouldn't have to go back. Maybe this could be her new home.
She was snapped out of her thoughts by a creature popping into the room. It sounded like a quiet snap of the fingers. Oh! It was the house elf, Zilly!
"Hi Zilly! My name's Azalea. You can call me Aza if you like!"
"Yes Miss Azalea! I will be calling you Missy Aza from now on!"
"No, no, just call me Aza. Just Aza."
"Okay Missy Aza."
Azalea pouted at the elf.
"Lady Black has instructed me to get you dressed in these clothes." The house elf gestured to clothing, lying on the bed. There was a pale green blouse, with pearlescent buttons, black pressed slacks, and light gray wizarding robes, just her size, along with her underclothing she had on yesterday. Everything was clean, and well enough fitting, and so very soft.
She went behind the changing screen, and slipped on the clothing, smiling widely at how everything was just her size, for the first time in her life. Everything fit just right. It was like a dream come true.
"Is Aza ready now?" Zilly asked.
Azalea emerged, looking like a small child version of Cassiopeia Black, at least clothing wise. She still had messy black hair, a perfect mixture of James Potter's mess and the classic Black Family curls. She was standing in front of a full length mirror, as Cassiopeia walked to the open door, knocking on it.
"You look picture-perfect, little one."
"Thank you Ma'am."
"I'll have none of that. You can call me Cassiopeia or Cia."
"Okay Ma'- I mean, alright, Cassiopeia."
"Let's head to breakfast, I thought you might be hungry." Cassiopeia was cut short by a quiet growling coming from the girl's stomach.
Azalea blushed and looked away in shame.
"Sweetling, I'll have none of that. If you're hungry, I will always feed you. You were not fed much by your Aunt and Uncle, were you?"
"I ate! Uncle Vernon fed me three times a week." she said indignantly.
"And how many times was your cousin Dudley fed?"
"... Five times a day..." Azalea mumbled.
"It's okay to be hungry, Azalea. There is no shame in that." Cassiopeia said softly to the child.
"Now, before we eat breakfast, how are you feeling, honestly?"
"Loads better, my face almost doesn't hurt at all!"
"Almost?"
"It's still sore to the touch, but it doesn't hurt to smile anymore!"
"Here, let me apply more of this salve. Did it help you last night?"
"Mhm! Thank you so very much."
Cassiopeia led her to the vanity, next to the changing screen, and patted the bench seat.
"Sit here, darling, let me fix your hair for you."
"Will it hurt much? When Aunt Petunia tried to fix it, the brush got stuck, and it hurt a lot. She cut it all off, but it grew right back. Was that magic too?"
"No it will not hurt, I won't use just a regular brush. It certainly was magic. What you did was called accidental magic. It's when your magical core reacts to your emotions. I bet you were pretty scared for your hair to grow right back like it did, huh? Now sit down, please."
Azalea sat in front of her on the bench seat, sitting very still as Cassiopeia gently pulled a silver jeweled comb through her hair, working her way from the bottom of her hair, to the roots. She took her time so as not to pull too hard, as the spells weaved into the comb untangled the still slightly matted hair. The words capillus extricatio were engraved into the very comb itself, the spell placed within would work as it was used. In no time she was made up, with part of her hair in a top knot, held in place with a silver clasp.
"Let's get down to breakfast, shall we?"
"Please, I'm very hungry."
"Of course little one"
Cassiopeia led her down the hallway and through the manor, stopping to show her where her own room was, the dueling room, the potions laboratories, and the main library were on the way down the hall. Finally, they got to the grand dining hall, where there was a long mahogany table draped with white linen and all kinds of foods just waiting for them. She sat Azalea down to the right of the head of the table and took her seat next to her. It was just the two of them sitting to eat, as they were the only two living there.
"What's this?"
"That's a yogurt parfait, with cherries and strawberries and grapes."
"And this?"
"That's blood pudding."
"What about that over there?"
And so on the questions rolled as they ate. Azalea tried a bit of all the different foods, but ended up liking the plain porridge with toast and jam the most. She also tried a few different fruits that the Dursley's hadn't ever let her try, let alone get near, like cherries and blueberries. She really liked blueberries the most, and Cassiopeia noticed she tried to put some in her pocket. She put a stop to it as soon as it began.
"Don't worry, little one, you'll eat again. I will make sure you get three balanced meals a day, every day, for the rest of your growing years if I have my way."
Azalea froze, stopping as she was about to deposit another handful into her robe pocket, and put the blueberries in her hand back into the wooden bowl. She looked up sheepishly at Cassiopeia and smiled bashfully.
"Accio Azalea's blueberries." she called out.
Five plump, perfectly ripe blueberries flew up out of the robe and into Cassiopeia's awaiting hand. Azalea looked up in wonder at the blatant display of magic. She would soon get used to it.
After breakfast, they moved into the flooing room. It was a mostly empty room with claw foot chairs in each corner, gilded and adorned with silver woven fabric. In the center of the room was a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, holding multiple ever burning candles, but the main feature of the room was an entirely massive fireplace with a matching mantle and stoop made of solid white granite. On the mantle of the fireplace were multiple silver urns of flooing powder, more than one could ever need.
They approached the fireplace, but Azalea faltered in her step behind Cassiopeia, and she noticed.
"What's wrong Azalea?" Cassiopeia asked.
"There's a fire in that fireplace, won't we get burned?"
"Oh no, my child. This is a special magic fireplace. It's attached to something called a floo network, sort of like muggle telephones. You grab a pinch of the floo powder in one of the urns, and throw it into the fire. It will turn green, and you say where you want to go, loud and clearly, and walk in. You won't get burned because the fire's heatless. It sort of tickles in a way. Just like magic." Cassiopeia explained to the girl.
"Oh! And keep your elbows in! You wouldn't want to bang them as you go through, would you?"
"Just like magic." Azalea repeated after her.
"Don't worry, I'll go first and if I don't see you coming through in three minutes I'll go right back though, and we'll aparate to St. Mungo's instead.
"O-okay. I can do this." Azalea said confidently.
"Remember, to say it loud and clear as day. Say, 'The Leaky Cauldron'. From there it's a short walk to the hospital."
Cassiopeia walked up to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder, before tossing it into the fire in front of her. It roared to life and turned a deep emerald green like Azalea had never seen before.
"The Leaky Cauldron!" She called out as loud and clear as a bell and just like magic she disappeared into the fire.
"I can do this!" Azalea said to herself, before she, too, grabbed the floo powder and threw it into the flames.
"Um, um, The Leaky Cauldron!" She called out, hesitating. The fire roared green, just like it did for Cassiopeia, and she knew she did it right. She stepped in, and was transported directly to the Leaky Cauldron, where she stumbled a bit, but she didn't get sick like she did with the apparition.
"Good job Azalea, you did it! Now, while we're out in public, you must call me Lady Black, but in muggle London it's Miss Black. Remember that please."
"Okay Cas- I mean okay Lady Black."
Cassiopeia nodded to her and she beamed.
From the Leaky Cauldron, they exited to muggle London, where it was a short five-minute walk. They arrived upon a broken down, dilapidated building that looked to be under construction. It was a red brick faced building with scaffolding and a large storefront window with a single broken mannequin in the front. The glass of the window was cracked, and large pieces were missing, making an opening that you could walk through. This was the hidden, yet main entrance to St. Mungo's Hospital For Magical Maladies and Injuries.
She stepped up, and through the window, before turning around and offering her hand down the smaller girl.
"Come with me, but remain silent until we are in a private room."
"Okay Lady Black."
She walked up to the counter and spoke quietly to a tall blonde male.
"I, Lady Cassiopeia of the Black Ancestry, request the presence of a trained Healer in a private room. I will need a secrecy spell level three performed before any more information will be given out."
"Yes, Lady Black, right away. Follow me to room five."
He led them down a long white hallway and into the third room on the right. It was a large empty room with a row of chairs, a desk, and a single medical cot with a white screen on either side for privacy. There were no windows and the door looked thick and heavy,
"Please wait here while Healer Toppit finishes up what she's doing."
"Thank you very much."
Not five minutes later, a narrow waisted woman with fiery red pin straight hair walked in. She looked very stern and went straight to business.
"I, Healer Toppit, do swear on my magic to keep what is discovered in this room, between the people in this room. So mote it be."
"Now, let's get down to business. What seems to be the reason for this visit?"
"I have Azalea Dorea Potter with me, and I suspect neglect and abuse. I fear the worst has come to fruition in her living situation and, as a Lady of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, I use my right to extract and protect my heiress at all costs. I call in the ancient powers."
"This is a very serious claim. Do you have documentation to back it up?"
"Here is the parchment scroll from my own personal healer, Healer McClain. Here are her findings." And she handed over the scroll to the no nonsense woman.
"Ah yes, I see. Heiress Potter, please lie down on the cot here and sit very still. I will perform the health scan momentarily."
As Azalea complied, with a nod to confirm the command from Lady Black, Healer Toppit waved her wand, much like Healer McClain did.
"Salutem Divulgant"
Again, much like the other healer, she tapped with her wand and a white light appeared. She tapped it again on a scroll of parchment, and it unfurled quite a bit to reveal the results of the scan. As she read over it, her eyes started to widen more and more.
Multiple untreated broken bones, mostly fingers. Things that could be explained, if it were a wizarding school age child, but this was not the circumstance here. This was a six-year-old with many old breaks in both arms, her fingers and her leg. She was severely malnourished, which caused rickets as well as poor vision. What couldn't be explained from malnutrition, was the fractured orbital socket by her right eye. That had to come from physical abuse. Someone had abused Azalea Potter.
"Due to the results that I found, I want to do a deeper scan, but it will require a drop of your blood onto another parchment."
She pulled a single sheet of parchment from her bag with runes written in gold ink in a circle. Cassiopeia peered at the runes and was able to make out a few that she knew instantly. There were Ansuz for insight and communication which was there to look into the blood of the body, Ehwaz for harmony of the magic and mind, and Algiz to protect from the blood being misused for anything else but that particular ritual.
"Heiress Potter, I give you my word that your blood will do nothing but fill out the information on this sheet of parchment, do I have your verbal consent to extract exactly one drop of your life essence to complete this spell?"
"Yes, I do."
"I will now prick your finger, you won't even feel it."
She pricked the girl's finger with the tip of her wand using a mild cutting hex, and squeezed a single drop of blood onto the center of the rune circle on the paper.
"Mons Revela Ante Deum"
The paper filled out in black ink, things the medi-witch already seemed to know. She looked very concerned.
Trace amounts of rat poison were found in her bloodstream, slowly killing off her internal organs. The muggles she was placed with were actively trying to kill her.
When Cassiopeia saw this, she was filled with unbridled rage, but she didn't dare show this anger to the child in front of her. She didn't show any emotions on her face, but mentally she was plotting her revenge. She was, after all, Lady Cassiopeia Black, sister of the Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Blacks after all.
"For treatment, I recommend three level six nutrient potions a day, for at least three months, before backing down to two level four nutrient potions. She's also going to need skele-grow potions to regrow the left humerus, the left radius, and the elbow as well as the right radius, all eight fingers, and her right fibula, after the bones are vanished. I will prescribe a half dose drought of the living death as to relax the body. Without a doubt, she will need level five pain relieving potions after that. No more than three a day, three days on again, two days off again, lest she become addicted at such a young age. For aches and pains, she can use muscle relaxing potions and salves as required, level two.
The healer made copies of both pieces of parchment and handed the originals to Cassiopeia for safekeeping before leaving.
"I'm very proud of you Azalea, you did a wonderful job. I saw that you were very brave; you deserve a treat, would you like to try ice cream?"
"Ooh yes, please. I've never had ice cream before!"
Sometimes she forgot that Azalea was just that, a little kid thrown into a new world.
She cast a notice-me-not spell on Azalea and led her though the building, back onto the muggle streets, and back to the Leaky Cauldron, which connected to Diagon Alley.
From there, she led her though the not yet bustling alley, towards Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. The Parlour was a small shop with many places to sit down inside, and a small area outside with a bunch of tables and chairs. Inside, there was lots of colorful ice-cream on display in many new and exciting flavors.
They waited in the short line, and when it was their turn, Azalea turned to Cassiopeia and asked, "What flavor should I try?"
"I recommend the Strawberries and Cream flavor, although you might like the Sticky Toffee Pudding too. Why not get a scoop of both?"
"Can I?"
"Of course you can, little one."
They placed their orders and soon enough, they were ready. They took their ice cream cones to the seating outside, to people watch as they ate their cold, creamy treats.
When they were done, Cassiopeia asked, "Which one did you like better?"
"Definitely the Strawberries and Cream. The Sticky Toffee Pudding was too sweet."
Cassiopeia raised her eyebrow at this. Too sweet, was there even such a thing when it came to ice cream? She noticed the melted ice cream starting to drip onto Azalea's fingers and cast a refreshing charm on her hands, face, and clothing to remove the stickiness.
"There you go, much more presentable for where we are headed next. Remember, be polite and do not stare."
"What do you mean?"
"We are headed to Gringotts Bank, which is run by goblins."
"Goblins are real?"
"Yes, goblins are real, as are vampires, ghosts, and werewolves, as well as many other magical creatures."
Eventually they came to a stop. They had reached a tall white building that towered over the other shops on the street.