Chapter Three: Did He Just Say Owl?

Following a rushed breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George didn't hang about in the Great Hall as they usually would have done. Instead, they waited to receive their new timetables for the year – second-years chose additional subjects to take in their third-year – then set off to the hospital wing. On the way, Ron glanced at Hermione's timetable to see it crammed full of almost every extra subject there was to choose from.
"Hermione, they've got your timetable wrong, look – 9:00am Arithmancy, there, then beneath it 9:00 Ancient Runes... do they expect you to be in two classes at once or something?"
"Don't be silly, Ron," Hermione said dismissively, "Nobody could be in two places at once."
Her closed expression displayed that that was the last word she had on the topic.

Dumbledore was already waiting outside of the hospital wing door when they arrived. He looked uncharacteristically fatigued – the pressures of Sirius Black being on the loose as well as this incident were clearly weighting him down.
"Good mornings – you're here bright and early, well done – are you ready to go inside?"
They entered through the polished door into the hospital wing. Sweeping the sterile room, they saw that Sami was the only occupant of a bed – she still seemed to be sleeping. Madam Pomfrey scurried over to them, her pale face looking flushed and extremely vexed, and she ushered Dumbledore into her office.
"Take a seat, take a seat – I shall only be a minute," he waved at the bedsteads adjacent to Rebecca's, which moved closer to the occupied one. They arranged themselves on either side of her, watching nervously for any signs of her stirring. She looked peaceful and undisturbed, still wearing her dress and George's cloak – they pitied her, for in a few minutes she would wake up to receive some shocking news that would change her life forever.
Dumbledore returned, after coaxing an anxious Madame Pomfrey.
He nodded at Hermione, who called softly, "Sami?" Sami took a breath; she was waking. "Sami?"
Her eyes opened and she eased up into a sitting position, propping up her pillow to lean against.
"Good morning," Dumbledore said brightly, "You had a good sleep, I hope?"
She nodded warily.
"I believe introductions are in order, eh? My name is Professor Dumbledore, and here with me I have Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Fred Weasley, and you met George Weasley last night, I see." Each student smiled in turn and murmured 'Good morning,'. Before Sami had the chance to interject, Dumbledore continued.
"Do you mind telling us what you were doing last night, before we found you? It would help us an awful lot..."
Sami considered her options for a moment, before relenting.
"Okay. I was at my friend's house – it was her birthday yesterday, you see, and she was throwing a fancy dress party. I was torn between going as Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn, but my older sister already had this costume, so I decided on Marilyn. Anyway, the party had – turned sour, so I left, after a walk. Didn't know where I was going, to be honest, I wasn't familiar with round there, and eventually I found myself near the ruins. You know the ones?" she asked because when the word 'ruins' had been mentioned, a flicker of a smile had lit up Dumbledore's face. "Well, as I was saying, I found myself there, and stopped. My bag, I realised I'd left it back at the party, and it had my mobile in, so I was pretty much stranded. I thought I should carry on walking to the nearest busy area, where I could try to get home, so I carried on walking after the direction of the ruins, when this – this bright light came out of nowhere... everything flashed green, it was blinding... I must have tripped over so, because I remember hitting my head on the ground—" she winced "—and everything went black."
"Thank you for your wonderful recount – it has proved most helpful. I'm no doctor, but I have an inkling as to what happened. Could you tell me, Miss O'Rourke... do odd things ever happen around you? Unfortunate things, things that appear to happen without a cause?"
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, but again, she decided to divulge.
"Hold on now... now you mention it, s'true..." she looked away, but not before sadness could be seen to materialize in her wide, deep eyes. She turned back to Dumbledore, with an honest, yet miserable, expression. "You see... a few years ago, now, strange stuff started to happen. S'hard to put into words... but if I were ever upset, or frustrated... hope you don't think I'm round the bend, but the people that offended me..."
"Don't fret – I understand exactly what you are trying to describe," Dumbledore soothed her, with a delighted look on his face, "I think we can help you out. Just one more question – what, may I ask, is your family living situation at home?"
"Live with my older sister, Professor," she replied, with a heart-rending air. Once again, she averted her eyes, which looked like they were filling with tears. "My- my parents, they were killed when I was little. They were in London for a Halloween party – my sister, who were about eight, and me, we were with my nana – and the day after, November 1st, there – there were an explosion, a gas leak..."
The concerned faces of the people sitting around her turned bleak. Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth, tears filling her own eyes. Dumbledore pulled a handkerchief from one of his cloak pockets and handed it to Sami, who dabbed ferociously at her eyes.
"T-Twelve people, it killed," she wept.

It was a tragic sight to watch, because the wizards and witch knew that Sami's parents, along with ten other Muggles, had not passed due to a gas leak. That story was a cover given to the Muggle world by the Ministry of Magic, who had wiped the minds of any other Muggle witnesses who had happened to be at the scene. The truth of the O'Rourkes' death was in fact that Sirius Black had bumped into his old 'friend' Peter Pettigrew that day, and after Pettigrew had pulled out his wand, ready to attack, Black beat him to it and destroyed him, along with 12 innocent Muggles, leaving a crater in the street. The only piece of Pettigrew the Ministry could find was one of his fingers.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George looked gravely at Dumbledore. He returned their glances, a stony expression clouding his usually cheerful face.
"Miss O'Rourke... I believe that the news I am about to inform you of will change your life forever. Of course, there is always a choice, which you are most certainly entitled to, but I think it best for you to know both sides of the story before your opportunity to decided passes." Sami looked completely bewildered, and more than a little apprehensive.
"I'm going to be the one who sounds 'round the bend' now, but – Samantha O'Rourke, I have reason to believe that you are no ordinary thirteen-year-old—" the students braced themselves; they knew what was coming, "—you are a witch."
Surprisingly, Sami stayed serene and merely nodded for Dumbledore to continue.
"Somewhere along your family lineage, you have ancestors who have traces of magic in their blood. The trait must have faded in your heritage, but I do not have one doubt that you contain wizarding blood. I apologise, Miss O'Rourke, for not being straight with you until now, but usually when one finds out he or she is magic out of the blue – around the age of eleven, but I shall come to that later – they either faint or vomit. I assumed a good night's rest might help.
"The children around me here are all young wizards and, in Miss Granger's case, witches. We are sitting in the infirmary of a school – but not a grammar school or a comprehensive, like you are used to, no – this school is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and I am the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. You see, Miss O'Rourke, this establishment is just the beginning, the door, if you feel poetic, to a world you will have never known. At this school, children from the age of eleven are taught to become great and powerful wizards.
"The wizarding world is not exactly a fairytale, however. Some magic folk who have a nasty attribute – an insatiable hunger for power – turn to Dark Magic and become lost on their way, straying to a path of evil and unforgiveable actions. They do things irrationally, without considering consequences – lives that may be lost, families that may be broken..."
Throughout Dumbledore's explanation, Sami had sat processing his words without any traces of disbelief or scepticism. Something dawned on her, it could be reflected in her face. With a quiet, trembling voice, her stare still fixed on the hospital sheets, she asked, "Professor Dumbledore, sir... these Dark Wizards..."
"Yes, my child?"
She looked up, malice shining in her eyes.
"Some of them killed my parents, didn't they?"
Dumbledore sighed, but before he could answer, Sami continued.
"My whole life, I've researched the circumstances surrounding their death. Nothing added up – a month before, that part of the city had been examined, and no complaints were made by the surveyors. No records of where the leak started, how it was ignited – not a soul could smell gas around the time, and the witnesses, they all said the same old yoke—" she closed her eyes and recited from memory, "—'I could smell gas... the entire street was in panic... all I remember was a loud boom, and screams. It pains me to recollect, I'm sorry.'. Kept a folder full of newspaper clippings and CD recordings of recounts and interviews. Always thought that the witnesses were lying, always, I did. Professor... sir... could you tell me what really happened?"
"I will, Miss O'Rourke – if you are well enough, we shall bid goodbye for now to these students and begin to prepare... That is, of course, if you accept the invitation to enrol and begin studies here at Hogwarts?"
"But sir... I amn't magic... am I - allowed?"
"I'll explain everything shortly. But first, excuse me for a short, I must send an owl to the Ministry. Madam Pomfrey will prepare you some breakfast during my absence."
He and the others smiled at Sami, before turning to leave. As they reached the door, however, she remembered something.
"Oh – your cloak!"
George, who was pleasantly surprised that she had recognised him directly, instead of debating between him and Fred, turned to see her shrugging out of the robe, but he shook his head before she could hand it to him.
"Hopefully you'll have your own soon, but for now I think you need it more than me."
She grinned.
"Oh, and – did he really just say an owl?"
The others just beamed.