Disclaimer: I do not own the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Anything familiar you see in this story, whether it be characters or plots, belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers, and whoever else owns the rights.
Author's Note: Alright, I'm back. Sorry for the extensive delay in getting this out, life has been… busy. I just graduated High School, so, as I'm sure you can imagine, I was overloaded with classwork, AP Tests, finals, and graduation stuff. Now that that's all over with, though, I'm hoping to get these out quicker.
Additionally, I took time off from this to write a one-shot for the Harry/Fleur Discord Server's Hope Collection. That one-shot, entitled The British Veela went up on FFN and AO3 on June 26th. I'm not really a one-shot person, but it was a fun break from my normal writing.
Shoutouts go to Discord Members 1saaa, Luq707, Sinisterfox, ubiquitouslyverbose, and Sectumus for helping with the planning and editing of this fic.
Lastly, I'd like to thank my wonderful Beta, Athena, for her help editing this fic.
Self-Promotion: I have a Discord Server where you can talk with me and other readers. Also as part of the server, you get early access to all of my chapters. To join, paste the following link into a new tab and remove the spaces: discord . gg / Bfwywpf
As the van the orphanage used to transport its residents pulled into the drop-off lane at King's Cross Station, Katie couldn't help but smile. She was finally leaving the dreary orphanage. She knew it wasn't forever — the school year was only ten months long, after all — but that wasn't enough to deter her joyous mood.
"Alright, dear, we're here," the nasally voice of Ms. Fitzgerald called out from the driver's seat. "Get your stuff out of the boot and get going. I don't have the time to escort you to your train; I trust you can do it yourself. Stay at school over Christmas and Easter. I'll be back here when your school year ends and not a day before."
Katie sat silently in the backseat, entirely unsurprised at the treatment she was receiving from Ms. Fitzgerald, as the woman had never liked her.
"Get. Out." The woman practically snarled, visibly annoyed by Katie's lack of movement.
Katie scrambled out of the van, hastening to open the boot and remove her trunk and owl cage. As soon as the boot was closed and Katie out of the way, Ms. Fitzgerald peeled away from the curb, leaving Katie alone in front of the station.
As the Hogwarts Express departed from Platform 9 ¾, Katie walked down the length of the train, searching for somewhere to sit. The compartment she had originally selected for the journey had quickly been commandeered by a group of boisterous older students in yellow-trimmed robes who seemed to have no qualms with commandeering an already occupied compartment.
As she entered the third car from the back, she heard a forceful voice speaking as though the person was delivering a sermon.
"Hogwarts teaches us that there are two types of magic — Light and Dark. If our educators and textbooks are to be believed, the sole difference between the two is that Dark Magic causes pain, suffering, and death. Yet, the very spells we are taught in class, and are told are Light Magic, can cause pain, suffering, and death."
For some reason Katie did not know — perhaps it was her budding curiosity about the nature of magic, or simply the charismatic tone the speaker was using — she felt drawn towards the conversation, walking towards the speaker as they continued.
"Take one of the first charms we are ever taught, Lumos: the wand-lighting charm. We are taught that it is to be used to light our way in the dark. It sounds like a perfectly Light spell that could have no possible application to cause pain, suffering, or death, yes?
The speaker paused momentarily for emphasis, during which Katie stopped outside the compartment the speaker was preaching from and got her first look at the owner of the commanding voice. She was an older girl, but not as old as the Hufflepuffs that had kicked her out of her first compartment, perhaps a fourth or fifth year. From the green trim on her robes, Katie could tell that she belonged to Slytherin House.
"Wrong," the speaker intoned. "Lumos has a very simple application that causes pain and suffering. It may not be lethal, but some afflicted by this application may wish it was. Magic, as we are all taught, is stronger the more power is put into it. When you first cast a Lumos Charm, momentary blindness can occur in those who were watching your wand tip. If enough power is put into lighting the wand, and during that temporary period of blindness the tip of the wand was placed against someone's eye, it could cause that blindness to be permanent."
She looked around the assembled crowd, locking eyes with some of the listers — including Katie — before continuing, "That is just one example of a simple charm being used in a manner that should be considered dark. Someone could use the Levitation Charm to throw another off a tall ledge, paralyzing or killing them. Or use the Knockback Jinx in the same manner.
"It seems to me that we have been lied to," she boomed out. "Magic is not Light or Dark. Magic… is simply magic. Light spells can be used to end life and Dark spells can be used to aid life. Yes, even Dark spells have helpful applications.
"Even the Cruciatus Curse could be used to achieve a light purpose. The Cruciatus Curse stimulates nerves, causing the victim to convulse in pain. Imagine you are with a companion and they suddenly collapse to the ground, their heart ceasing to beat as they die in front of you. It takes a great deal of energy to restart the heart, but that energy needn't necessarily be real.
"However, if one acts quickly enough after someone's heart ceases to beat that heart can be restarted. It takes a great deal of energy to restart the heart, however, that energy needn't necessarily be real. So long as the heart feels that energy, it will resume beating as it was before. The Cruciatus Curse could be used to simulate this requirement and save the life of your hypothetical companion.
"So, you see, even the worst Dark spells are not truly Dark. They, much like even the purest Light spells, are merely magic — just magic."
With that, the speaker stepped down from the suitcase she had been standing on to a resounding round of applause from all those gathered — Katie among the loudest. As a muggleborn, the only things she knew about magic were what she could glean from her textbooks. Hearing a different perspective on magic was extremely enlightening as to its true nature. The speech that she had just heard had given concrete details as to why it was correct, whereas none of the other sources she had learned about magic from had.
Hoping that she might be able to learn more about magic from this clearly knowledgeable speaker, she put on a brave face and approached the entrance to the compartment from which the address had been given.
When she reached the entrance, the speaker was talking amiably with another student, her hands moving in animated gestures while her steel grey eyes were locked onto her companion's. For some reason, Katie couldn't hear a word the two were saying, despite standing almost directly next to the other student.
Katie was only standing around awkwardly for a minute before the speaker noticed her. Almost as soon as the steel grey eyes of the speaker made contact with Katie's own, she gave a small nod in acknowledgment of her presence and wrapped up her conversation with the boy she was speaking with.
As soon as the boy stood and left the compartment, she drew her wand and waved it across the entrance of the compartment before making eye contact with Katie. "You were listening to me earlier, were you not?"
Katie quickly nodded, "I was. It's why I wanted to speak with you, actually. I'm an incoming first year and I was fascinated by your speech and was wondering whether you might be able to tell me more about it?"
The girl gave a small laugh. "Sorry for laughing, I didn't mean it as an insult. It's just that I've never seen or heard of a muggleborn interested in the theoretical side of magic. For what I've heard of or encountered, it's all about doing the magic for that lot. And even if there has been one, I would imagine that they would be satisfied with whatever malarky the school-approved texts and professors taught.
"I just realized I never introduced myself. My name is Gemma Farley. If you'd like, you can take a seat and we can talk more."
Katie quickly sat down, dragging her heavy trunk and owl cage as far into the compartment as she could. Gemma drew her wand and muttered something under her breath that Katie couldn't make out, causing both the trunk and owl cage to float up to and settle down on one of the overhead luggage racks.
"Thank you," Katie said, surprised at the older girl's kindness.
"Don't worry about it… uh…"
"Katie, Katie Bell."
Gemma smiled. "Don't worry about it, Katie. Now then, you wanted to hear more about the theoretical aspect of magic?"
Katie nodded enthusiastically.
Gemma waved her wand once more across the compartment door, before stowing it away in a pocket in her robes. "That was a silencing ward. It's advanced, but prevents those outside of this compartment from overhearing our conversation."
Katie's eyes widened slightly as she absorbed this.
"Now then, where to begin…" Gemma pondered aloud before diving into another long lecture about the theoretical side of magic.
Gemma's lecture lasted for about an hour, during which Katie sat in silence, awestruck at the amount of information she was being taught. Even the information that Katie thought she knew previously was not immune to discussion in the lecture. It seemed to Katie that everything she had learned from her books, Gemma knew more about or had a vastly different opinion on. During those times in which she had a differing opinion, Gemma made sure to reinforce her points with easily understandable evidence.
When she had concluded her lecture, Katie couldn't contain herself. "Thank you so much, Gemma. You have no idea how much it means to me that you were willing to explain this to me."
The black-haired girl smiled broadly, "You're very welcome, Katie. It's always nice to meet someone as fascinated about this as I am — even if they aren't as knowledgeable about it. Now then, on a more personal note, what House do you think you'll be sorted into?"
Katie wrung her hands a bit before replying, "I think the only house that I would really do well in is Gryffindor."
Gemma frowned thoughtfully, "Gryffindor? I would have guessed either Slytherin or Ravenclaw."
"Well… Slytherin I immediately ruled out due to my blood status. You've been kind about it, but I know that most others won't be. As for Ravenclaw, Professor McGonagall told me horror stories about exams in that House."
Gemma sighed, "I can't fault you there. Many of my housemates are staunch blood purists, but you'll find that there are a good number of us that aren't." She then added, "There are still many hours left until your Sorting. I would love to have you in Slytherin with me."
"Thank you, Gemma,"
Gemma stood, "Considering I'm the only one out of the two of us that can make our belongings easier to carry, I'll go find a new compartment for the remainder of the trip. It was a pleasure meeting and talking with you, Katie. I'll see you around Hogwarts."
With that, Gemma waved her wand over the entrance, dispelling the silencing ward, and walked out of the compartment, her trunk and empty owl cage in tow.
Katie, now dressed in her Hogwarts robes, stepped off of the train and walked over to the giant man calling for the first years to come to him. He directed Katie to climb into a wooden boat, where she was soon joined by three other first years. Katie didn't pay much attention to them as they were all engrossed in a conversation that seemed as if it had begun long before the trio had climbed into the boat.
It was another half an hour before all of the first years were gathered within the walls of the school eagerly awaiting their Sorting and the beginning of their seven years at Hogwarts. Katie was amongst the calmer students, already knowing which House she was likely to be Sorted into. When Professor McGonagall reentered the antechamber and instructed the first years to form a line to enter the Great Hall, Katie joined the line at a steady pace
Once the first years were assembled in the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall brought forth a three-legged wooden stool and a raggedy old hat, which she placed atop of the stool. The mutterings between students about what the hat was for were quickly silenced when its brim opened and it began to sing.
To say this startled Katie would be an understatement. Logically, she knew she shouldn't have been surprised that magical hats could sing, but she was still floored by it. The hat droned on for what felt like an eternity to Katie, though it could not have lasted more than a minute.
As soon as the hat concluded its song, Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a roll of parchment in her hand.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted, Anderson, Finn."
A boy with messy black hair and slightly tan skin stepped out of the line and walked to the stool, where he placed the hat on his head. After a few short moments, the hat opened its brim and yelled out a single word, loud and clear. "HUFFLEPUFF!"
He quickly removed the hat and took a seat at the second table from the left as the entire hall applauded for him. It seemed that Hufflepuff House was liked by the vast majority of the population of Hogwarts. The cheers when a student was sorted into Hufflepuff were always louder than when they were sorted into any other house bar Gryffindor.
It only took a few more names before Professor McGonagall intoned, "Bell, Katie."
Katie quietly stepped out to the right of the line and walked up to the stool, sitting down before placing the Sorting Hat on her head.
"Hmm… an interesting one, you are," a voice spoke within her head. "Your mind is that of someone Rowena would have loved to teach. And yet, your ambitions are even more intriguing. Make no mistake, you would do well in Slytherin House. However, it is neither Ravenclaw nor Slytherin that I see for you.
'Why so?' Katie asked, curious as to the hat's rationale.
The hat chuckled within her mind. "Inquisitive too, I see. Rowena would have loved you, yet you do not learn just for the sake of learning. You wish to be someone with your knowledge. You let your knowledge fuel your ambitions — something old Salazar would have loved. However, Slytherin simply isn't the place for you."
Before Katie could inquire as to why not Slytherin, the hat yelled out for the entire Great Hall to hear, "GRYFFINDOR!"
As Katie removed the hat, the Hall burst into applause for her and Professor McGonagall directed her towards the table on the far left, decked out in crimson and gold.
Katie sat down at the Gryffindor table with a smile on her face. This was where she wanted to spend her seven years at Hogwarts. No matter that the Sorting Hat said she had the ambitions of a Slytherin, she was a Gryffindor — and a proud one at that.
The first month of the term passed quickly for Professor Minerva McGonagall. Once a term began, her teaching was all she focused on. It was not just her job but also something she took pride and pleasure from. Ever so often, she would reflect back on her past students and what they were like during her Hogwarts days.
It was one of these reflections that prompted her to stay behind after the first staff meeting of the year to talk with Albus.
"My dear Minerva, what can I do for you?" he asked, noticing that the Deputy Headmistress had remained behind after the rest of the staff had departed.
"Well, if you will recall, during the meeting I mentioned how one of my muggleborn Gryffindors was an orphan."
"I do recall that, yes. Miss Bell, was it?"
"Yes, that's correct. The reason I mention her is that during our trip to Diagon Alley, I asked about her parents. She mentioned her father's name was Caelus, which slightly jogged my memory.
"The name Caelus sounded familiar to me, so I looked through my records of past students. About fifteen years ago, there was a Gryffindor by the name of Caelus — Caelus Lightbourne. Albus, you have always been better at remembering students than I. By chance do you know what Caelus did after he graduated?"
The wizened Headmaster stroked his beard before responding, "I'm afraid I don't. I have no recollection of his name ever coming up in conversation at the Ministry at any point in time I was there, nor was he in the Daily Prophet if my memory serves me right.
"I believe it is quite possible that he chose to enter the muggle world. The Lightbourne family is not a member of the so-called 'Sacred 28,' so it is not entirely unreasonable that he decided to live life as a muggle after Hogwarts."
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, having not received anywhere remotely close to the level of information she had hoped to gain from her discussion with the Headmaster. "Thank you, Albus. I will likely look into this more. Miss Bell intrigues me and I wish the best for her. I will be sure to keep you apprised of what I find."
Professor Dumbledore nodded, "Very well, Minerva. I wish you the best of luck in finding the information that you are looking for. You had best be departing now, I think. It has been a long day and you have an early class tomorrow."
With that, the two bade each other farewell and retired to their respective living quarters; Professor McGonagall's mind still on the mystery of Caelus Lightbourne and whether or not he could possibly be connected to the young Miss Bell.
For Katie, the first month of school was full of ups, downs, and in-betweens. She enjoyed most of her classes, though there were a notable few that she dreaded going to. History of Magic had no variation to it — all they talked about were Goblin Revolutions — and Professor Binns brought no joy or excitement to the class. Astronomy was exhausting, though that was simply due to the time at which it occurred. Having an Astronomy lesson meant losing multiple hours of sleep that Katie so desperately needed to remain fully functioning during the following day.
Most of her housemates detested Potions due to Professor Snape's clear bias against Gryffindor House. Katie, on the other hand, found that if she kept her head down, said nothing, and did exactly as Professor Snape instructed, class was actually quite enjoyable. Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Altman and Charms with Professor Flitwick were two of her favorite classes, due to the Professors devoting class time to hands-on practice with whatever spell they had learned in their prep.
Her favorite class was Transfiguration. The Deputy Headmistress always had some sort of interesting, new, and advanced transfiguration to demonstrate at the beginning of class to pique their interest in the subject. For example, on the first day, she transfigured a simple snow globe on her desk into a chameleon before reverting it back to its original state.
However, on this particular day, it was not Transfiguration that peaked her excitement the most. Nor was it Defense, Charms, or Potions. Today, the first years would be getting their first lesson on flying.
Ever since Katie had heard that witches and wizards flew on brooms for transportation, she had been looking forward to learning how to do it. Now, a scant few days into her second month at Hogwarts, she was getting that opportunity.
At the designated time, all of the Gryffindor first years trooped down to the Quidditch Pitch where they were soon joined by the Slytherin first years and the flying instructor, Madam Hooch.
Madam Hooch was by far the most interesting Professor Katie had met as far as physical appearances went. She wasn't particularly tall, though her hair was a steel grey and her eyes a golden yellow that seemed to intimidate everyone who looked into them.
"Alright," the flying instructor began once everyone had arrived. "Welcome to your first flying lesson. Before we begin, I will impress one important rule to you all. If I tell you to do something, you will do it. It is not just for your safety, but the safety of your classmates as well. If you do not comply, I will not hesitate to ground you for the remainder of the lesson and perhaps even future lessons should that be warranted.
"Now then, hurry up and stand by a broom. We don't have all day."
The students quickly hustled over to the parallel rows of brooms and stood off to one side of them. If looks were anything to go by, Katie had ended up with one of the better brooms in her row. All but a few of the bristles were unbent and there was barely any chipping on the handle or shaft of the broom.
"Stick your dominant hand out over your broom and firmly command, 'Up!'" Madam Hooch instructed.
Katie and her classmates were quick to comply, though there were mixed results. Some brooms, like Katie's, flew right up into the outstretched hands of the people that called for them. Others simply didn't move at all and remained on the ground as if nothing had happened.
It took a few more attempts before everyone had a broom in hand.
"Now then," Madam Hooch began to instruct, "when I blow my whistle, kick off of the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. Understood?"
A chorus of assent rang out from the students before Madam Hooch raised her whistle to her mouth and gave it a short blow.
As Katie lifted off the ground for the first time, she could feel a sense of euphoria build up within her. She loved the sensation that floating on the broom gave her. And although she did have some trouble controlling the broom during her descent, she still could not wait to lift off from the ground again — hopefully for a longer duration.
By the time December rolled around, Katie had settled into her Hogwarts routine. She knew the paths to her classes like the back of her hand — and had even found some shortcuts. She was excelling academically in most of her classes and had improved a sizable amount at flying.
Due to the Winter Holidays approaching, Professor McGonagall had called Katie into her office to discuss whether she would be staying at Hogwarts over the holidays or she would be returning to the orphanage.
Almost as soon as Katie had entered Professor McGonagall's office, the professor had greeted her, "Welcome, Miss Bell. Please, take a seat."
"Now then, I see here that you have elected to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays. Is that correct?"
"Yes, Professor."
"Is there any particular reason?"
"I simply find Hogwarts fascinating and would like to spend more time exploring it, Professor," Katie lied, not wanting to make the professor concerned about her life at the orphanage.
The Deputy Headmistress raised an eyebrow in seeming disbelief, so Katie quickly added on, "It will also be easier to do my assigned homework over the break if I'm at Hogwarts, since I can use the Library as a resource."
Fortunately for Katie, Professor McGonagall seemed to buy her addition. "Miss Bell, on a more personal note, how are you finding Hogwarts?"
"I absolutely love it! Most of my classes are amazing and magic simply fascinates me. I love learning more about it and how to do it."
Professor McGonagall gave a rare smile, "I am quite glad to hear that, Miss Bell. Now, as I mentioned during our trip to Diagon Alley, I like to act as a sort of advisor to all the incoming muggleborns — and Gryffindors. How are you getting along with your classmates? Any close friends? Anyone you dislike?"
"I'm getting along well enough with everyone, I suppose." Katie shrugged. "I wouldn't really call any of them close friends, but they're nice. I get along best with Alex Sorenson and Kendra Bailey, though I suspect that's just because they are also muggleborns. The two of them are close friends, though, so I feel a bit awkward when talking with them. Mal Ramsay and his friends can be annoying at times, but they're usually not a big deal."
Professor McGonagall frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that you do not feel that you have any close friends. However, I am glad to hear that there isn't anybody that you overly dislike. As always, Miss Bell, if there is anything I can do to help you, please let me know and I will do my best."
"I will be sure to let you know, Professor."
"Very well then. Have an enjoyable holidays, Miss Bell. Bar anything major, I will see you here again shortly before Easter Break."
"See you then, Professor," Katie replied as she exited Professor McGonagall's office, leaving the Professor alone to her thoughts.
The school year seemed to fly by for Katie. Before she knew it, May had arrived and everyone was feeling the strain and pressure of the upcoming exams. Professors were cramming content into the few lectures they had left, and it was a truly rare sight not to see the library packed with students.
However, the upside to this chaos, in Katie's opinion, was that the professors were teaching the most advanced and complex magic the students would be learning that year. In Charms class, Professor Flitwick devoted an entire class period to the fire-making spell: Incendio.
"The fire-making spell, Incendio, is the most advanced piece of charms work you will be learning as first years," Professor Flitwick began in his high-pitched voice. "This charm allows you to conjure a jet of flames to set a target within a certain range alight. You will learn more about this charm next year, but for now, I will simply teach you the basics."
The diminutive professor conjured a pile of leaves a few feet in front of the podium he was lecturing in before continuing, "The wand movement for this particular charm is one of the more intuitive ones you will learn. Does anybody know what it is?"
A few hands rose into the air.
"Answer away, Miss Bell."
Katie smiled as she drew her wand to demonstrate the motion, "The wand motion for this spell looks just like a flame. First, you wave your wand slightly out to the left while raising it, then you curve back in and up to a peak. Then you simply mirror the process in the other direction, curving it down from the peak and then bringing it back towards to left as you complete the spell."
Professor Flitwick clapped excitedly. "Well done, Miss Bell. That is precisely the wand motion — and why it is so intuitive. Take ten points for Gryffindor for your explanation and an additional five for explaining the motion's intuitiveness."
Katie preened herself on earning fifteen points for Gryffindor as Professor Flitwick raised his own wand and cast the spell on the pile of leaves he had conjured a few moments prior.
Almost as soon as the final syllable had left the Charms Professor's mouth, a jet of flames burst from Professor Flitwick's wand, striking the pile of leaves and setting it ablaze. While the leaves burned into nothingness, Professor Flitwick returned to lecturing the class, "Normally I allow you all to practice the spells we learn during the remainder of our time. However, due to the nature of this spell, we will not be practicing it. It is much too easy for an accident to occur that could seriously harm one of you, even with me present.
"You will not be asked to demonstrate your practical knowledge of this spell on your exam, only your theoretical knowledge of it. Are there any questions about this spell before I let you all prepare for your exam?
"Very well, then. Seeing as there are no questions, what remaining time we have will be devoted to preparing for your final exam. Whether that be studying theoretical knowledge or practicing spells is up to you. Should you desire locks to practice Alohomora and Colloportus, or broken items to practice Reparo on, they are up at the front of the classroom behind where I am standing now."
As soon as Professor Flitwick finished speaking, almost the entire classroom dashed up to the front of the classroom to grab locks and teacups to practice on. Katie remained at her seat thinking over something Professor Flitwick had said during his lecture about the fire-making spell.
'Professor Flitwick said that the fire-making spell could cause harm to someone. He also said this earlier in the year with the severing charm. According to what Gemma said on the train at the beginning of the year, those should be classified as Dark Magic and banned from instruction at Hogwarts,' Katie mused to herself. 'And, yet, here is Professor Flitwick teaching us them. That simply doesn't make sense. Gemma did say that all magic was simply magic, neither Light nor Dark, so that might explain it…'
Katie let that last thought trail off into nothing as the bell rang, signaling the end of Charms class — and the end of the school day.
It had been just over a month and a half since that Charms lecture. Exam season had long since passed and the first through sixth years were meeting with their heads of houses to discuss plans for the upcoming school year.
"Come in, Miss Bell,"
"Well," the Deputy Headmistress said once Katie had taken a seat. "So long as you don't fail your final examinations, I see no reason why you won't advance to second year. You are passing all of your classes."
Seeing a somewhat incredulous look on Katie's face, Professor McGonagall added, "Yes, even History of Magic. You have been holding a steady 'Acceptable' for most of the term. Should your performance on your final exam be on par with your performance in class this term, you should maintain that grade. Should you perform worse, well, it's not as if we are going to hold you back from moving on to second year. You would not be the first student to fail History of Magic as a first year — and certainly not the last."
Katie smiled, slightly relieved. "That's relieving to hear, Professor. I have been a bit worried about my History grade recently. It's not exactly the most… exciting class. Your class, however, is easily the most enjoyable of them all."
A smile formed on Professor McGonagall's face, "Why, thank you, Miss Bell. It brings me great joy to hear that you find my class exciting. As for your comment on History of Magic, it is a common sentiment amongst the students. It has been since even before I was a first year, myself."
The smile that had formed dropped, however, when Professor McGonagall switched topics. "Now then, Miss Bell, I wanted to ask you about your life at the orphanage. In my time at Hogwarts, I have met many orphan muggleborns. Some have had wonderful experiences at their orphanage. Others have not. I wish to hear from you what your opinion of yours is."
Katie sighed internally. This was not something she had planned on ever discussing with a teacher — or anyone, really. However, she was backed against the wall here and had no choice but to answer. However, that didn't mean Katie was going to tell Professor McGonagall everything, just whatever would get the Professor to end the conversation about her life at the orphanage as quickly as possible.
"Life at the orphanage is whatever, I guess. The other kids don't really talk to me that much, but that's fine by me. The staff are nice, make sure we're all taken care of, stuff like that."
Professor McGonagall seemed momentarily unconvinced, "Your orphanage seems to rank in the middle of all of those I have heard of; nothing for me to concern myself over, then. Have a wonderful summer, Miss Bell. Bar anything major these last few days, I will see you at the feast on September first. Do not hesitate to owl me if you need anything."
"Thank you, Professor! Will do!" Katie replied quickly as she exited the office, relieved that Professor McGonagall hadn't pried any deeper into her life at the orphanage.
Almost as soon as Katie had left, Professor McGonagall grabbed a handful of floo powder and called Professor Dumbledore.
"Yes, my dear Minvera?" The Headmaster asked as he popped his head through the fire.
"It is exactly as I thought, Albus. I have confirmed with both Miss Bell and Mister Lightbourne their current states and believe that it would be appropriate to proceed with what I suggested the last time we spoke about the two."
"Very well, Minerva. You have my full support to proceed."
With that, Professor Dumbledore removed his head from the fire, ending the floo call and leaving Professor McGonagall alone in her office to plan out whatever the two had planned.
A few days later, Katie was called into the Headmaster's office for no reason that she could think of.
After giving the password to the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance — "Treacle Tart" — Katie slowly walked up the stairs to Dumbledore's office, to find the door open and both Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall waiting inside for her.
"Please, come in, Miss Bell," Professor Dumbledore said kindly.
"What is going on, Professors? Did I fail my exams? Am I being held back a year? Did I do something wrong?"
Dumbledore chuckled lightly for a moment before replying, "No need to worry, Miss Bell. You did nothing wrong and you are still on track to progress to second year. The reason that we called you here is that Professor McGonagall has some news for you that might be… hard to process."
Before Katie could interject and ask any further questions, Professor McGonagall stepped in and continued from where the Headmaster had left off.
"You see, Miss Bell, it started when you mentioned that your father's name was Caelus. About fifteen years ago, we had a student graduate from Hogwarts named Caelus — Caelus Lightbourne. Normally, this wouldn't be enough for me to be curious; however, the more I looked at you, the more familiar you seemed.
Professor McGonagall sighed. "What I am trying to say, Miss Bell, is that I had suspicions that your father was not actually a muggle who was killed in action during the Falklands War. Rather, he was actually Caelus Lightbourne, a Hogwarts graduate who chose to leave the Wizarding World after his graduation and join the muggle world."
Seeing that Katie was about to say something, Professor McGonagall continued speaking, "Miss Bell, there is no easy way to say this, but I have been researching this all year. I believe your mother was either lied to by your father or lied to you. You see, Miss Bell, the magical government has strong relations with the muggle one. Due to Professor Dumbledore's unique status, he was able to procure records of all those who were deployed by Her Majesty to the Falklands.
"I am so sorry, Miss Bell, but there is nobody named Caelus on that list. Nor is there someone with the surname Bell.
"Upon discovering this, I took it upon myself to reach out to the man who I believed to be your father and explain the situation to him. It took a considerable amount of time, but I managed to get in contact with him. Upon discussing the situation with him, he said that should you wish to leave the orphanage for good, he was willing to take custody of you."
Katie sat dumbstruck for a good few minutes. Her entire world had been turned on its head. Her father — the part of her life she was the proudest of — hadn't actually served in Her Majesty's Armed Forces during the Falklands War. Merlin, he wasn't even a muggle. She hadn't wanted to believe it at first, but deep down she knew that there was no way that both Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore had made a mistake.
"I— I don't know what to say. Thank you so much, Professors. Is there… is there any way I could meet him before deciding whether or not I want to leave the orphanage?"
Professor Dumbledore smiled, "The three of us — your father, Professor McGonagall, and I, that is — thought you might say that. Your father is waiting at The Three Broomsticks for you. Professor McGonagall, if you wouldn't mind helping Miss Bell floo there? Madam Rosmerta is expecting you two."
Professor McGonagall smiled and turned to Katie. "Let us be on our way, then, Miss Bell. I believe it is past time you were reunited with your father."
Author's Note: Another chapter in the books, woo-hoo! Released on my birthday as well, niiiiiiice. Anyway, that was a fun chapter to write. I've been looking forward to the Caelus reveal since I planned it out. I know that at least one of you guys caught on to the fact that something was up with Katie's parents — hi, Triage.
Once again, I know there's no Harry, but he will be arriving next chapter, I promise. Next chapter will focus mostly on Katie again, but that's specifically because there are some… loose ends I need to tie up. Starting in Chapter 4, I believe we'll be seeing more of a focus on Harry — not that Katie will lose focus, that is.
Three more things and then I'm done rambling, I swear.
First of all, a special shoutout to Frickles for giving this fic a shoutout in his story, A Malignant Ruse — which I absolutely love, go check it out!
Secondly, at the end of last month, I released a Flowerpot one-shot for the Flowerpot Discord's Hope Collection — a collection of one-shots with the Harry/Fleur pairing dedicated to those who are currently fighting and have survived cancer. It is entitled The British Veela and, as you can probably guess, features a British Fleur. It is posted on both FFN and AO3 and it would mean a lot to me if you check it out.
Finally, I need to give a massive thank you to the Sprint Gang on the Flowerpot Discord Server — LegsofSisyphus, LoveSync, and especially AlexTheVoice. The vast majority of these just over 6k words were written while racing against them to see who could write the most words within 30 minutes or 1 hour. I honestly don't think I would have finished this chapter without the sprints. From the bottom of my heart, thank you guys for the motivation!
Okay, I lied, one more thing. 14 reviews, over 75 favorites, and almost 150 followers on a single chapter? You guys flatter me beyond belief. I honestly did not think this would do so well. Thank you all.
That's it for now. I'm hoping to have Chapter 3 out by mid-August, though Chapter 2 of A Job Done Too Well will be written and posted first. See you guys then or on the Discord!
- Asmodeus Stahl