While Heather sat in the compartment with the sleeping werewolf, she mentally went over her early life.
She was diagnosed at a very young age with a minor case of Progeria. She aged roughly 18 months for every 12 months passing. This meant that by the time her parents were killed, she was physically, mentally and emotionally 2 years old.
By the next September, she was physically 3 and the Dursleys put her in Pre-School at the Little Whinging's West Library. Here, she completed pre-school and Kindergarten and she developed her love of reading.
Then in January of 1984, she was physically about 5-years-old and the library transferred her to Stonewall West Primary School, first grade. Heather had been signed up for the intensive program because of how bored she got with the regular pace of learning.
What this meant was that instead of taking classes 5 days a week for 8 months (minus vacations and holidays of course), she took classes 6 days a week for 3.5 months. She did the four core classes at the school proper and four classes at the neighboring HFC Center.
She loved the HFC Center. It was a gym, school, free medical clinic, tutor center, homeless shelter, food shelf and donation/distribution center all int one.
Literally. It was easily as large as a Wal-Mart Super Center if not bigger.
Upon entering it was like walking into a major mall. 4 stories tall. Right in front were kiosks for signing in, a grand staircase (2 escalators and 2 elevators). Behind those was the food court where she could get snacks and meals… for free.
To the left were the fitness gyms, studios and classes. Martial Arts to Aerobics, Dancing to obstacle courses; weight lifting to swimming classes… Cooking, health, first aid, nutrition classes, even Certified Nursing classes!
To the right were the other classes. Music, arts and crafts, automotive, wood work, home economics, business, computers, robotics, foreign languages….
The second floor was the Medical Center. It handled everything. Full physicals, blood work, X-Rays, dental, vision, pharmacy, psychology.
The third floor had the food shelf on one side (which was set up to look and function remarkably like a grocery store right down to shopping carts) and the donation/distribution center.
The fourth floor was the homeless shelter. It had over 100 'dorm rooms' with a twin bed, a wardrobe, a writing desk and a tall bookshelf and a ¾ bathroom stocked with travel sized toiletries. There was a job center on that floor where you could look for work, take workshops to create resumes, learn interview skills and similar. There was also a room where you could get a GED, take extra end of year exams with legal proctors to over see the exams and even take you're A-Levels.
As an abused orphan (as found and recorded in the Clinic), she had an assigned dorm room that she could use whenever she wanted until her 18th birthday, regardless of her status as a student at the local public school. This way she had a safe place to go without living on the streets or in the overfull orphanages.
She frequently stayed there during holidays, during the summer and on weekends when Vernon wasn't at work.
Heather had enjoyed the Intensive Program so much that she continued it for all of her general schooling. This resulted in her completed her A-Levels (twelfth Grade) in December of 1987 as Valedictorian. She had been physically 9 at the time, legally 7.
She also received acceptance to Oxford but because of her age and legalities, she was required to attend classes online rather than at the college proper and she was not legally eligible for any scholarships.
So, she performed an experiment, after contacting 3 lawyers regarding the legality of said experiment.
Since she could not go through the normal legal channels for scholarships and grants, she decided to reach out for private grants.
She wrote out 500 letter to privately businesses and individuals and asked if they sponsored individuals. She fully expected 90 percent of them to say no. When she got 500 'yes's, they all included the requirements of said grants and scholarship. This led her to explaining the situation. Her progeria, having graduated, acceptance to Oxford unable to get scholarships thru legal means because of her age, her hopes and plans for the future, being required to attend some form of schooling until she turned 16 in July of 1996, et cetera. She also explained that she was not looking to cause hardship to any company or individual which was why she was not asking for grants higher than 5000 pounds per term.
However, she made 2 mistakes. First, was that she put in 5000 pounds, when she meant 500 pounds. Second, was that she wrote 'per term'. When she wrote this, she had meant per school year… every 8 months. Her Patrons decided 'per term' meant 'per semester', every 4 months.
She received a wave of approvals, cheques, and college supplies.
Mercifully, she had opened a mailbox at the local post office so Privet Drive and the HFC didn't get flooded with the packages and papers, though her Dorm Room was where she stored everything.
500 positive responses. 500 automatic deposits of 5000 pounds directly into her bank account, every 4 months like clockwork. Yes, this meant she was receiving 2.5 million pounds every 4 months. 7.5 million pounds every annual year. Not including interest or investments. Even after removing her 5 years of Oxford tuition, and her daily expenses, she had a very nice bank account of over 27 million by September of 1991.
Whoops.
Of course, she had a personal accountant and a lawyer who dealt with the Inland Revenue Services.
Did the Dursleys know about her accidental overabundance of income?
Oh, hell no. If they knew, she would have been killed a dozen times over. She had no doubt about it.
The end result was that when she entered Hogwarts in September of 1991, she was physically, mentally and emotionally 16. She had a driver's license, a Pontiac Grand Prix, a 4-year degree in Ancient History, Psychology and Mathematics; and a Master's in Business Administration with a major in Finance Management. She was fluent in Latin, French, Italian, Russian, Romanian, German and Arabic. She was a black belt in Judo, Aikido and Kung Fu. She was a Junior Chef, a Certified Level 5 tutor, a certified swim guard, a registered mutant with the non-magical government and an acknowledged Wiccan by the community.
Yes, wiccan.
Somewhere along the way, she discovered her abilities… her 'freakishness' as the Dursleys called it. Self-Help/Improvement books helped her gain control of her abilities. Certain Sci-Fi and Fantasy books and movies served as her textbooks on what she could or could not do. But when she started studying and becoming a Wiccan practitioner that her magic blossomed and she truly connected with it.
Not that the Dursleys were aware of that course of study as well. They would have killed her for that too.
Since she lived in her dorm 6 days a week and only returned to Privet Drive on weekends to do her laundry, she and the Dursleys went nearly 4 years without laying eyes on each other.
Oh, yes, she was not anything like what Dumbledore had expected, when she first arrived at Hogwarts and she knew it.
