Chapter 3- The Ride and Meetings
3 years later…
Potter Manor (unplottable location)
Sunday the 1st of September 1991
6:00 AM
Aurora Potter shot up from her bed, with her scarlet hair tangled and her shinning green eyes wide. She couldn't sleep any longer. It was the day she'd finally go to Hogwarts. She got up and went to the bathroom to wash up. The years since she'd escaped her relatives and their 'tender' care have seen great changes in her. She did not longer look to be three years younger than she was supposed to be, thanks to Mopsey's cooking and the power of nutrient potions, but she was still short for her age. She no longer looked malnourished; her pale skin now had a healthy glow to it. And the greater change of them all she was quite content with her life, though she was still terribly lonely, as much as she adored her house elves and respected the paintings of her ancestor, she longed for human contact even though she was scared to be treated so badly again.
She got dressed in a baby blue cotton dress and wore her silver robe on top of it and she put on her black lace up boots. She still delighted in wearing her own feminine clothes after spending seven years in Dudley's too large second-hand clothes and after many lessons with Mopsey and her grandmother's Dorea in etiquette and pureblood politics and fashion, she took a liking to wearing robes, mostly because they had huge pockets (finally woman's clothing with big enough pockets!).
She went to the kitchen and ate the large breakfast that Mopsey had prepared for her and then headed to the library where her grandparent's portrait was for some last-minute advice.
Dorea Black looked at her granddaughter up and down and then nodded to herself; they have made her a proper heiress.
'Remember dear; behave like the proper lady of the House of Potter and Black. Do you have your rings on?' she asked referring to her ladyship and heirship rings, which she had gotten from Gringotts on her eleventh birthday. She thought back on that day.
Flashback
Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley, London, England.
Friday the 31st of July 1991.
She was in Bloodtooth's office and in front of her where five boxes with each of her Houses coat of arms on top of them.
'Put them on Miss Potter and if the Family Magicks accept you you'll be the Lady of your Houses'.
'And if they don't?' she asked with trepidation.
'You'll see' he answered with a bloodthirsty grin that did nothing for her nerves.
She put on the Potter Lordship ring first. It had a gold band and a bright red ruby on top of it with a lion and a sword on top of it. After a second a warm feeling engulfed her like when she stayed in Potter Manor, full of all the fluffy feelings someone associated with family. Gryffindor's ring was quite the same. Though the other three seemed to judge her for way too long and then seemed to try to overpower her. But she didn't let them she fought back with everything she had in her untit she was left drained but grudgingly accepted. She had gained a new kind of respect for the last Black Lords and heirs; the ring was bloody brutal.
'As you survived', survived? What the hell she thought. 'You are now Lady Aurora Belladonna Potter Slytherin Gryffindor Peverell, heiress Black. Sign here and you'll be officially emancipated. We will file it with the Ministry. If you don't want them all to be shown you can will the rings to be invisible.'
She did as she was told, she signed and then willed all the rings except the Potter one and the Black one to be invisible.
She came back to the present and responded to her grandmother's question by showing her, her rings. Dorea nodded in approval.
'Remember what I taught you. Remember who you are. Remember who your family is' she lectured sternly then her face softened and she smiled a light smile 'And don't forget to have fun little Aura'.
'I will granny; I'll make you proud she said solemnly and then went out of the room.
She went to her room and packed the last of her things in her satchel. Everything else was packed yesterday under the strict supervision of Mopsey and her beautiful snowy owl Enyo was let out to make her own way to Hogwarts. She double checked she had everything and then she put on her wand holster with her wand in it. She still remembered the day she got it.
Flashback
After she visited Gringotts and bought everything on her book list she went to buy the one thing she had wanted to buy all day. Her wand! Yes, she had trained in some spells and dueling with her great grandmother's wand but it wasn't the same. It didn't really feel complete and her spells came to her with difficulty.
She stood in front of the shop which was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.
A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as she stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair in the corner of the room. Aurora felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; she swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to her and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of her neck prickled. And then she felt elation and mischievousness from behind her that wasn't her own. Under the guidance of her great-great grandfather, who was the last empath of the family she had learned how to control her ability. She still didn't have complete control yet, that came with time, but she could now mute all the emotions in the air in a low frequency in order not get completely lost and crowded. She turned around abruptly and came face to face with an old man. His wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop seemed surprised she had noticed him. After a second, he gained his composure again and said in a soft voice 'Ah yes' 'Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Aurora Potter'. It wasn't a question. You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy made of willow. Nice wand for charm work.'
Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Aurora. Aurora wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy. 'Your father on the other hand favored, a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well I say your father favored it—it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course.'
Mr. Ollivander had come so close that she could almost see herself reflected in those misty eyes. 'And that's where…'
Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Aurora's forehead with a long, white finger. 'I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it', he said softly. 'Thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful and in the wrong hands… well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…'
He shook his head and then to Aurora's relief, he went and picked up a long tape measure. "Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander. 'Well, now - Ms. Potter. Let me see.' "Which is your wand arm?"
" I'm right-handed," said Aurora.
"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Aurora from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Ms. Potter. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."
Meanwhile Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.
"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Ms. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave."
She took it and waved it around a bit only for it to be snatched out of her hand immediately. In the same matter in continued for the next half of an hour. By then she had broken the windows, the chair, put Ollivanders' hair on fire and painted the whole room blue. The more she tried the happier Mr. Ollivander seemed to become.
"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere - I wonder, now - yes, why not - unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."
Aurora took the wand. She felt a sudden warmth in her fingers, but it felt incomplete like there was something missing but she didn't know what. She raised the wand above her head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a small stream of red sparks shot from the end.
'Well, well, well how curious it seems the phoenix feather has bonded with you but the wood hasn't.' Aurora felt her heart break; would she never find a wand?
'Don't you worry now Miss. Potter come this way', he said as he led her to a room in the back of the shop.
She was surprised in contrast to the shop this room was very organized. It was full with weird ingredients in labeled jars and cubes of wood organized alphabetically. 'Now Miss. Potter touch every one of these woods and pick whichever feels right for you' he instructed with a somewhat crazed smile on his face.
She touched every single one of them and she felt warmth from two a reddish one which was labeled as hazel and a light brown one with red swirls which was called Elder. She picked them up and showed them to Mr. Ollivander who after a moment of ogling at them let out a delightful laugh. 'A great destiny you have there Miss Potter, a great destiny indeed.' He said in a soft wistful voice 'Now let's if you'll bond to another core too, usually in the rare cases that two woods are needed two cores can be used too' 'Again feel the ingredients and pick the one that feels right'.
Once again, she found two a thestral's tail hair and a basilisks' horn. Ollivander just looked at them and shook his head 'You are full of surprises Miss Potter. Come back in two hours and I'll have it ready. This might the most fun wand I've made in the last thirty years' he said with a joyous smile. Aurora could feel his excitement and fought hard not to be affected, so she left quickly and let the genius to his work.
After a hearty lunch in Vertical Alley and some window shopping, Aurora came back to the shop. She just came in when Mr. Ollivander appeared with a velvet box and large grin on his face. 'Miss. Potter this is my masterpiece' he said. 'Your wand has many rare ingredients. And it was difficult to make. But is seems your wand is a wand suited for a gray wizard who can use all types of magic. You have a phoenix feather, which is a light being, a thestral's tail hair, which no matter what everyone says is a being of gray magic and a basilisks' horn, a dark creature, which is rumored to be the core of Salazar's Slytherin wand.'
Aurora's interest was now piqued. She didn't know that there were so many meanings behind wand making. 'What about the woods then? What do they mean?' she asked.
Ollivander seemed even more delighted to have gathered her attention, and he explained with an enthusiasm only someone who talks about something they love have. 'The combination of your woods is very strange. But the woods individually are very unique. A sensitive wand, hazel often reflects its owner's emotional state, and works best for a master who understands and can manage their own feelings. Others should be very careful handling a hazel wand if its owner has recently lost their temper, or suffered a serious disappointment, because the wand will absorb such energy and discharge it unpredictably. The positive aspect of a hazel wand more than makes up for such minor discomforts, however, for it is capable of outstanding magic in the hands of the skillful and is so devoted to its owner that it often 'wilts' at the end of its master's life. The elder wood on the other hand is the rarest wand wood of all, and reputed to be deeply unlucky, the elder wand is trickier to master than any other. It contains powerful magic, but scorns to remain with any owner who is not the superior of his or her company; it takes a remarkable wizard to keep the elder wand for any length of time. Only a highly unusual person will find their perfect match in elder, and on the rare occasion when such a pairing occurs, I take it as certain that the witch or wizard in question is marked out for a special destiny. An additional fact that I have unearthed during my long years of study is that the owners of elder wands almost always feel a powerful affinity with those chosen by rowan.' (Pottermore)
'Add to that the fact that it so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather - just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother - why, its brother gave you that scar', he said while he examined her 'You are destined for great things Miss Potter, good or bad they'll be great.' He said while giving her the box. She opened it and took a first look of her wand. It was thick in size with a light brown with red swirls colour on it and the handle had a phoenix feather engraved on it. The moment she touched it- it felt like coming home from a bad day, comforting and the connection was immediate between them. She waved it a bit and a plethora of colours appeared. It was phenomenal if she said so herself.
'Wonderful Miss. Potter, that'll be fifty galleons as it had to be remade with very rare ingredients'. She paid and left with a good luck from Mr. Ollivander. For some reason she got the feeling there was an unspoken 'you'll need it there' but she let it slide.
Aurora took her satchel, her feather light charmed and shrank trunk and the basket full of food that Mopsey had prepared for her for the ride to school. Said goodbye to her tearful house elves 'Mistress better eat and wear warm clothes' and going through the floo and a loud shout of 'PLATFORM 9 ¾' she disappeared.
Platform 9 ¾ , Kings Cross, London, England, Great Britain.
10:00 AM
Aurora stumbled out of the floo network with a swear. The floo hated her she knew it. Even though she got better at traveling through the floo and she didn't land on her butt all the time she still hadn't mastered it. The platform was mostly empty as she had appeared an hour early in order not to get crowded. She found a compartment on the back of the train all the while thanking feather light and shrinking charms and after she unshrunk her trunk she got comfortable. She took out a quilt from her satchel and a book on ancient runes which she took a liking to after reading her mother's diary and had started studying with the help of one of her ancestors and started reading.
About forty minutes later there was a knock on the door of her compartment, which after a loud 'enter' from her opened. She looked up and, on the doorway, stood a tall lanky boy with light brown hair with a reddish sheen to it, blue electric eyes and aristocratic looking cheekbones. 'May I sit here' he asked in a light voice. She could feel relief, a bit of pain and curiosity from him. What a weird and concerning mix of emotions. 'Of course,' she responded with an equally light voice.
After he sat down and got comfortable he took a look at her, eyes lingering on the Potter crest on her robes for a moment, nodded and introduced himself
'Theodore Nott. Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Nott'.
She responded in kind 'Aurora Potter. Heiress to the Most Ancient and Noble Houses of Black and Potter'. (She didn't want to make it known that she was a Lady until the time was needed.) She was impressed the only indication of his surprise was the widening of his eyes. She decided that she liked Theodore Nott he didn't ogle at her and his eyes seemed to be as sad as hers when she looks in the mirror. He felt like a kindred spirit. After that he took out a book as well and they fell in a comfortable silence.
Theodore Nott didn't know what to make of Aurora Potter. She was a tiny little thing with wild hair in the colour of blood and soulful emerald eyes that seemed broken for whatever reason. She seemed to swim into the quilt she had on top of her. The most surprising of it all was that she didn't seem arrogant like he expected her to be nor did she seem disgusted by him for his father's misgivings. He quite liked her company as she didn't seem to have the constant need to feel the air with chatter.
Surprisingly it was him that broke the silence. 'What are you reading?'
'Oh' her green eyes wide with excitement to talk about one of her favorite subjects 'it's a book about ancient runes written by one of my ancestors, Rosalina Potter. It's really interesting it talks about all the uses of runes in rituals'.
That piqued his interest, that's a really advanced topic. 'Wow! That's really advanced. I've read a bit on the topic from the books in my family's library. Are you more interested in the more theoretical or practical approach…?'
And that's how they passed the next hour discussing about runes and other rare pieces of magic they've read about until they were interrupted by a knock on the door. It opened and a tall Italian boy appeared with caramel tone skin, high cheekbones and honey-amber almost golden eyes. 'Can I sit here' he asked in a musical voice.
Aurora could feel some curiosity and some annoyance from him. Why he was annoyed she had no idea. When she thought that he sharply turned around from where he was looking at Theo and looked at her with a piercing stare.
'Of course' said Theo, which caused him to let her out of his heavy stare. He organized his trunk, took a seat beside her and introduced himself
'Blaise Zabini. Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Zabini.' 'I've already met Theodore. You are?' he asked in a drawl. He seemed to be almost amused by her. Something that without her empathy she wouldn't be able to realize as the only indicator was the amused shine of his eyes. The only emotion that appeared in his otherwise bored visage.
'Aurora Potter. Heiress to the Most Ancient and Noble Houses of Black and Potter' she responded. To her surprise he took her wrist and gave it a light kiss and said in a husky voice 'Pleasure'. The moment his skin touched hers it felt like a current of electricity had shot through her and by the widening of his eyes he felt it too. She could feel his emotions much clearer and they almost overcrowded her. Surprise, curiosity, loneliness, wonderment…
A light cough from Theo shot them out of the haze that had fallen over them. They separated from each other and Aurora could feel her cheeks reddening.
'Well Blaise' she said awkwardly 'Theodore and I were just discussing about Elemental Magicks. Do you know anything on the topic?' she asked. And by the lightening of his eyes she'd hit jackpot.
After two hours of discussion on obscure topics and the boys' discovery that she didn't really know anything about quidditch, which led to a one-hour explanation about it, even though they both preferred watching than playing. And a discussion about the Houses, which went a bit like this:
'I want to be in Slytherin,' said Blaise in a light voice.
'Me too, though Ravenclaw wouldn't be so bad' agreed Theodore.
Then they both turned around and focused on Aurora. Even though everyone expected her to be in Gryffindor they thought that she would be either a snake or a raven.
'Well' she said 'I am not sure but I think I'd prefer either Ravenclaw or Slytherin' she answered to the boys' delight. They have become quite fond of her in their short time together and wouldn't want to lose her due to house rivalries.
They were interrupted again. There was a knock on the door of their compartment and a round-faced boy with dark blond hair and brown eyes appeared.
"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"
When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"
"He'll turn up," said Aurora, feeling sorry for the boy. 'You can ask the prefects for help they might know something.'
"Yes," said the boy lightning up a bit 'Thank you I'll do just that' and he left.
Before anyone could say anything the door abruptly opened again and a girl appeared she was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.
"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.
"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said, Blaise in a clipped voice, already not very impressed with her, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the book on Aurora' s lap.
'Oh, what is this book? It wasn't on the book list. Are you sure it is allowed? Can I read it when you finish with it?' she asked in one breath.
She sat down next to Theodore who looked taken aback by her gal.
'Yes, it is allowed and no I won't give it to you I don't even know you', Aurora shot back insulted.
'You are quite rude, aren't you? You cannot just hoard a book.' She sniffed.
' By the way, I am Hermione Granger' she said in a superior sort of way. 'Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough - I'm Hermione Granger, by the way. You should wear your robes' and with that she left leaving them reeling from her rude attitude. She called Aurora rude and she didn't even ask their names.
After a while they calmed down and ate the food they had with them from home and some sweets from the trolley. The lull of the train led Aurora to Morpheus hands.
She woke up from Blaise's' voice.
'Aurora wake up we're almost there. We should change clothes'.
Aurora sleepily rubbed her eyes and yawned. She stood up and left the compartment for the boys to change and they in turn left for her to change.
She wore a grey skirt and a white short-sleeved shirt and a sweater vest. She also wore black knee-high combat boots as opposed to the standards Mary-janes, following her Grandfather's advice of a slippery ground.
'It's time to go' said Blaise. 'We leave our trunks on the train'
She nodded and they stepped out on the platform, excited for the years to come.
A/N. New chapter is it good is it bad?
please review
(puppy eyes)
Edited 17/6/18
xoxo
