Chapter 8: The Saviour

Severus went straight to the Slytherin table at breakfast. He had skipped dinner the previous day as he was not in a mood to put up with more bothersome questions. He was having an internal conflict silently on whether or not he should meet up with Lily before class when an owl came landing beside Lily. A letter from home perhaps?

Lily read the letter and immediately went running to the head table. Severus was suddenly intrigued. What could have possibly happened? Lily was telling something to Professor McGonagall and handed her the letter. The letter was now passed to the headmaster and suddenly the two got up in a hurry and walked out.

As soon as she returned to the Gryffindor table, she seemed to be animatedly re-accounting whatever it was to those around her. Severus got up and walked up to her to find out what was going on?

"Sev!"

"Good Morning Lily. What is going on?"

"I just got a letter from Mum and Dad Sev! You won't believe it! Apparently a girl had been kidnapped but somehow managed to escape! Petunia found her wandering around Cokesworth. My parents wanted to contact the authorities but then found out that she has magic! Turns out she's a witch too!

According to what they wrote me, she escaped with another boy from the kidnappers but they got separated and she was searching for him all along! She didn't even know about Hogwarts or about magical Britain! They said that she looked to be 11 or 12, she can't seem to remember much. They asked to meet the Headmaster or a teacher so she could attend school with us. Since she has magic, they thought it would be best to contact someone from the Wizarding world instead of the police."

"That….is some news…a witch? What about her family?"

"I'm not sure…I'll have to ask them….I handed the letter to Professor McGonagall, she said that she would look into it right away and left with the Headmaster."

"I'm sure they'll look into it. I suppose we'll know about it soon enough."

"Yeah. Let's meet in the Library after classes are over."

"Sure"

The news of the kidnapped witch spread through the school like wildfire. Severus just couldn't remember any such incident from his previous life. As far as he knew this was a new addition in the events to come. As much as he tried to recollect, he could remember no one else from the magical community from Cokesworth other than himself and Lily. This new event was something out of the blue. Things were getting out of hand already, yesterday with the stupid Boggart and today, a kidnapped witch!

Earlier

Medea comes to life in a new body. She is transported in front of Spinner's end upon entering the land of the living. Medea was found roaming barefoot and weakened in Cokesworth by Petunia Evans.

She looked to be around 11 or 12 years old. She tells Petunia that she escaped from a dark and deserted place and has been on her own since. She also tells her that she hadn't had anything to eat for the past few days. Petunia assumes that she might have escaped from potential kidnappers. She takes her home with her to inform her parents so that they could turn her into the police. Mr. and Mrs. Evans begin to question her and this is when Medea internally realized that she had somehow travelled back to a time where she did not yet exist.

Thinking quickly she decided that since she had brought along that other person's soul, he too (most probably male considering his line of thoughts) might have ended up in this time. If she had somehow ended up in a younger body, he probably might have too. Taking a chance, she mentioned that she had been trapped in a dark place with no-one around along with another boy once, but they got separated when they escaped that place and she had been trying to find him ever since. That was why she was living by herself and wandering in search of him for quite some time.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans decided to feed her and let her stay in their home until they could call the police. Medea tells them that she has no living family (which was true considering her time travel) and did not want to end up in an orphanage. She with pleads them to not call the police. They however try to convince her that she could not continue like this and it would be for the best to inform the police.

While eating, Medea suddenly feels thirsty and asks for some water. Mrs. Evans pours some water into a glass and just as she was about to pick it up, it flies into Medea's hands. A silence descends upon the scene and everyone is shocked including Medea. "You used magic!" yells Petunia, this breaks the trance and Medea gets scared. She tries to downplay the situation, then tries to get up and run but Mr. Evans stops her.

"You're a witch! Just like Lily!" said Mrs. Evans.

"I'm not a witch!" Medea contradicts but she hardly understood all this herself. Suddenly she realizes something.

"You said like Lily. Who's Lily?" she asks.

"Lily is our younger daughter. She can do magic just like you. She's a witch too. There's no need to be scared dear" Mrs. Evans replied.

"So tell me did you get your Hogwarts letter then?" asked Mr. Evans

"Hogwarts? What's that?" she asked.

"Oh dear, you didn't know that you were a witch, did you? You must have been so scared all by yourself! Hogwarts is a school for children who can do magic like you. Our daughter Lily and her friend Severus have been attending Hogwarts for their third year now. You get a letter of acceptance into Hogwarts when you turn eleven" explained Mrs. Evans kindly.

Magic? Were they making fun of her? But they saw with their own eyes what had happened. They seemed so calm about the whole thing. So were they telling the truth? A school for magical children? Is this even real? But then again everything that was happening was just as weird wasn't it? She got no such letter in her previous life but then again she had no magical abilities in her previous life.

Maybe the person she saved might find his way to that school too. No one else would believe that they had died would they? Even if they had magical abilities, would they believe her? She decided to go along with it and see what happens. She did need a place to stay anyway. If she was a child again she would be forced to go to school at some point, a magical school suddenly seemed intriguing.

"I see. I did not know. What would I need to do if I wanted to be accepted into this school for magical children?" she asked as politely as she could.

"Not much, apart from having magic I believe. A Professor at that school explained that all magical children received a letter to Hogwarts at the age of eleven. I will write to Lily and ask what could be done with you. You can stay with us until then." Said Mr. Evans.

"Great another freak! As if two weren't enough!" screeched Petunia

"Petunia!"

"It's true! It's not normal!"

"That's enough Petunia!" said Mr. Evans with no room for further arguments.

Later that day

"Good Afternoon to you Mr. and Mrs. Evans"

"Good Afternoon Professors! Please, come in"

Medea had a strong feeling that she had better stick as close to the truth as she could while talking to these new guests. For some reason her instincts were yelling inside telling her to tread carefully.

"Is it true, what you mentioned in the letter Mr. Evans?" asked McGonagall

"Yes Professor. It is quite the predicament indeed. Thank you for coming here on such a short notice. I thought the situation maybe better handled by someone from the magical world. I did not know anyone else of magic I could contact. I am sorry for the inconvenience."

"Not at all. I am glad that you reached out to us." Said Dumbledore.

"Medea, meet Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore from Hogwarts, the school we told you about"

"Good Afternoon. I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble. My name is Medea."

"It's nice to meet you Medea. If I may ask, how old are you?" asked Dumbledore

"I'm sorry Sir, I've lost track, I can't remember exactly, but I think I'm about 12 years old"

"It's quite alright I understand that it must have been really hard for you dear" said McGonagall kindly.

"Thank you Professor"

"Miss Medea, I'm truly sorry for what you had to go through. I hear you were held captive. Could you tell us what happened? Please take your time"

"I don't remember much Sir. The details are hazy. I remember being alive. Then I thought I was going to die. I was sent to a dark place and there was nothing there. It was painful and lonely. There was no one there but me. I was scared. I think I was doing some magic, I'm not sure. But then there was another boy. He came there too. He was sad. He didn't like it there at all. He wanted to leave there more than anything. I think he was scared too but he didn't say. We didn't know much about each other. We never asked either. But we kept each other company and when he was there I wasn't alone anymore. Then I felt safer when I met him.

Then suddenly something happened and I did something I can't explain. I did magic for sure. I never did something like that before. I don't know how I did it but it made me feel safe. Like it was protecting me and guiding me. I don't know how I did it but I got both of us out of there. Then I was in front of some house but he was somewhere else. But I know he came with me. I brought him here.

I don't know where he is now so I was searching for him. Because he is the only one I know. But I don't know him. I don't know his name or even what he looks like. I couldn't see him, it was too dark so I only heard his thoughts. I just know that I somehow saved both of us that time."

"Do you remember anything about who took you to that place dear?" asked McGonagall.

"No I don't Professor. I don't know many details about any of it. I'm sorry."

"Not at all dear, it's quite alright just tell us what you can remember, that would do just fine."

"Okay"

"Miss Medea, can you tell me if you remember anything about your family or your home?"

".."

"There is nothing to fear Miss Medea, we only wish to help you" said the headmaster

"I don't want to live in an orphanage, Sir."

"We can work out the details later and come up with the best arrangement for you, but please let us help you"

"My family is not alive now. It's just me."

"Did the people who took you have anything to do with it?"

"No, my family were no longer alive from the day I was born." she said solemnly.

"Then where did you live before that?"

"I was on my own before I went there. I was in that dark place alone till that boy got trapped there too. That's why I was searching for him. He's the only one I know. If I go to the magic school maybe I'll find him there."

"Does this boy have magic too then?"

"I'm not sure Sir but ever since I heard about it, I keep thinking I'll meet him there"

"Can you tell us anything else about this boy?"

"No, that's all I know"

"How long has it been since the two of you escaped that place?"

"I can't say. It has been a lot of time. He must have found someplace to go. This time he knew what he wanted to do."

"This time? What did he want to do Miss Medea?"

"This time he wanted to live well."

"What do you mean by that dear?" asked McGonagall

"I don't know if I should say, It's not my place to say. It was in his thoughts. I don't think I should tell you."

"It is truly commendable and nice that you want to protect his privacy but my dear, we don't know much about what happened. We don't know where that boy maybe. Every bit of information could be useful right now."

"He just wanted to live better this time. That's all."

"Did he not live well before dear?" asked McGonagall carefully

"He… I think he was tired. But when he came, he got trapped there too for a long time. You can't tell time there. Then he wanted to leave so badly. He wanted to live well from then. That's why I saved him. Because I wanted to live well too. I understood how he felt. So I told him to remember. I told him not to forget. I'm not sure if he heard me but I think he did. I think he will remember."

Albus Dumbledore could see in her eyes that this child was telling the truth. She did not have many details to give and the truth was far from being fully uncovered right now. There were no names, no faces, no family and the story was so vague. Perhaps the child did not understand it herself. There was also the slightest chance that she either did not want to understand or was hiding some details for some reason. But whatever she told them was the truth even if it wasn't much.

She had been through something no child should have that much was obvious. And there was that boy she spoke of. The story though lacking was gruesome and dark. It wasn't something anyone should have to go through. What happened to the other child in her story? It was just as much of a mystery.

Before heading to Cokesworth, Minerva and Albus had both confirmed that fact that there was indeed a magical child in Britain. Most probably, her magic had laid unusually dormant. She was definitely past eleven years of age. The circumstances must have somehow activated her magical core. She seemed to be an orphan. Perhaps it was time she started Hogwarts. The rest could be arranged in time. She would be staying at Hogwarts for now anyway.