Also available on AO3 and Wattpad by mountain-ash and rusted iron

Main Relationships: Dorothea Dursley & Harry Potter, Dorothea Dursley & Dudley Dursley, , (Eventual) Dudley Dursley & Harry Potter, Dorothea Dursley & Lily Moon, Dorothea Dursley & Pansy Parkinson.

Main Characters: Dorothea Aislinn Dursley | Thea Dursley (Original Character), Harry Potter, Lily Moon, Pansy Parkinson, Dursley Family, Other Hogwarts First-Years.

Tags: Original Character-centric, Hogwarts Inter-House Friendships, Dysfunctional Family, Family Issues, (the Dursley's should NOT have kids, let's be real), Queer Dudley Dursley, Pureblood Culture, including parts blatantly ripped of from The Worst Witch (Netflix) and soooo much headcanon, Slytherins Being Slytherins, my own Hogwarts headcanons sprinkled into the story for flavour,

Warnings: Harm to Children, Magical Blood Prejudice, Canonical Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Implied/Referenced Character Death.

Words: 18,222

Chapters: 5/?

Dorothea Dursley was not expecting the smartly-dressed stranger waiting outside when she opened the door. She was, in fact, expecting Rosie, or maybe Sarita, asking if she wanted to come play at their house.

Thankfully, the stranger introduced himself before she had to do anything.

"Good afternoon. You must be young Dorothea. I'd like to offer you a place at my school. Are your parents home?"

"Muuuuum! There's someone at the door."

Her mum came out of the kitchen, dusting flour off her hands.

"Can I help y-"

Petunia froze. Dorothea looked at the man again, trying to work out what had surprised her mum. His skin was a warm golden-brown, and he had dark, curly hair, just like Sarita's. He was wearing an ill-fitting navy blue suit. And he was… twirling a polished stick between his fingers? What?

Mum's face was oddly neutral. She spoke in the voice she usually reserved for talking about Harry.

"You must be here for the boy. You'd better come inside," her tone softened, "Dorothea, go to your room, I'll come and get you later."

What? But this was interesting! She wanted to talk to the mysterious man.

"Muuuuuuum," Thea whined.

"Dorothea." Petunia's tone was firm. It said 'don't make me tell you off in front of company young lady'.

"Ugh, fine."

Dorothea turned and stomped off up the stairs. She slammed her bedroom door and flopped down onto her duvet.

A few moments later, Thea got up and slipped out of her room. She snuck lightly down the stairs, stepping on the outside edges of the steps where they didn't creak, and put her ear to the keyhole. She could hear a muffled conversation, but she couldn't make out anything they were saying.

Thea squinted through the tiny hole. Mum was sat on her favorite armchair, the one with the floral pattern, and facing stiffly towards the mystery man. He was sitting on another armchair, cup of tea untouched. Mum was talking, but Thea couldn't hear what she was saying. The stranger started speaking. Thea tried to read the man's lips. It was difficult to understand when she was getting less than half the conversation, but it seemed he was part of some fancy school, and they wanted her. Something about being special, and for some reason a mention of a shopping trip accompanied by another teacher...or something? It was all a bit garbled.

Dorothea watched further for several long minutes, but nothing else became clear, so she decided to quit while she was ahead. Thea flitted back up the stairs and threw herself down on her bed. What on earth was going on?

She was going to St. Winifreds - Dad had completed all the paperwork for St. Winifreds as early as possible - her acceptance had been confirmed months ago. But that man acted like she hadn't been accepted to whatever school he was from. So was he from somewhere else? And it wasn't it a little late for recruitment visits. It was only a few weeks until the start of term.

Dorothea grabbed her book from the bedside table and tried to settle down and read. Thoughts continued to swirl into her head.

The man had known her name, but her mum had clearly thought he was here fo- for Harry. Dorothea didn't want to be compared to that freak or even thought about in the same sentence. He slept in his dusty cupboard and he was weird and no one liked him. She frowned to herself.

Mum knocked.

"Dorothea, darling? Could you come downstairs, sweetheart?" her tone sounded strained.

Thea frowned. Her mum was worried. Why would a simple professor's visit cause this much drama?

"Coming, Mum."

She dropped her book back on her pillow and bounced up.

In the living room, nothing became much clearer. Petunia's eyes were red, as if she had been crying. The professor sat back with a carefully neutral expression on his face as he introduced himself as Professor Black, teacher of Alchemy, and explained that she was magic.

"But there's no such thing!", Dorothea exclaimed in disbelief. And continued to disbelieve, right up until Professor Black neatly levitated his teacup with a swish and flick of his polished stick.

Thea learned that it actually his wand, and that he was a wizard, and she would be a witch.

But… she was going to St. Winifred's, with Rosie and Delilah. And Dudley would be right next door at Smeltings. She didn't want to go to some weird magic school in the middle of nowhere.

So she told her Mum. And was told no.

"I'm sorry, darling. You must go to Hogwarts, it's a law. And if I say no they could take you anyway."

Dorothea's whining cut off abruptly.

"They could take me? No, I don't wanna go!"

She was about two seconds away from stamping her foot, as if that would help, when Professor Black cut in.

"Miss Dursley. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to learn to control your magic and use it safely. There are no other choices, I'm afraid."

Thea pouted. She didn't want to go. Maybe she could get Mum to ignore this weird man if she changed the topic? It was better than nothing, right?

"Wait, Mum? What were you saying about Harry earlier?"

"Uh, the thing is, honey. Harry is magic too. He'll go to Hogwarts this autumn as well."

"What? But I don't want him too. He's weird."

"Well, all students are accepted at Hogwarts." Professor Black cut in again, far more sharply this time, "You'll just have to learn to get along with your cousin."

Well. Thea tried to ignore the funny feeling in her gut. She didn't like Harry, and the Professor was looking at her like she should be ashamed for thinking that. But Harry was a freak. Mum and Dad both said so.

And that was that. Dorothea Dursley was going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and if that wasn't bad enough, she had to go with Harry.