What our parents believed
Yup, I actually continued a story. Woo hoo for me. Hm…. I guess I shall dedicate this to Ten Toes, as they are the only person who actually reviewed. Ten…this is 'specially for you. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Not mine, not getting $$ for this. Sara Michaels is an original character. Yup.
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Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk, knowing his outward appearance more calm and confident than he'd actually felt. The small talk had quickly died down, and now everyone was at a loss for words. Across from his desk, in two squashy chintz chairs, sat Mr. and Mrs. Michaels. Normally, students' parents were not invited to enter Hogwarts, certainly not to visit the Headmaster's office. But these were special circumstances.
Every summer, while making up the letters inviting new students to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizarding, the staff knew that it could be very shocking for Muggle parents to learn not only that witches and wizards actually do exist, but that their child is one of them. For some families, this new knowledge was a cause for pride and relief; it did explain a child's sometimes odd behaviour, after all. Other times, it is more difficult to get family members to believe and accept what they are being told. This, however, was a very unique situation.
Young Miss Sara Michaels was a Muggle-born witch whose magical abilities asserted themselves at a very young age, and in a very odd fashion. Tragically, her gifts had been misinterpreted as mental illness. The unfortunate child had spent the better part of her life seeing doctors and taking medication for a condition that didn't exist.
Joseph Michaels spoke, his voice slightly raspy. "You have to understand," he pleaded, "we had absolutely no idea about any of this. I mean, seeing things like this just isn't normal. We didn't know there was an actual reason, we were just trying to help our little girl." His eyes were shot through with red, his brown hair a rumpled mess from running his hands distractedly through it.
"Why weren't we told?" his wife, Amy, asked despairingly. "Why didn't anyone tell us that there was nothing wrong with Sara? That this was perfectly normal..." she trailed off. Of course, this wasn't perfectly normal for either of them. The Headmaster sighed sympathetically.
"I'm afraid I don't have an acceptable answer. The wizarding community does not advertise its presence to the outside world; we believe it would cause people to fear us. We prefer to be left alone, and do not tell Muggles of our existence unless a Muggle-born child is found to possess magical abilities. Then we inform the parents, naturally, and ask that the matter be kept secret. Normally, Muggle-born witches and wizards to not require our attention until they approach the age where they will be asked to joining a wizarding school. But, in a case such as this, someone should have informed you of the situation sooner. Much sooner."
He paused, looking at their pale faces. They both seemed to feel so ashamed and guilty over what they had done to their daughter. But, since they couldn't have known what was going on, they could not have been expected to act any differently. Joseph and Amy had done what they felt best for Sara. Though Dumbledore wasn't personally responsible for this situation, he had long feared that something like this would happen. "There can be no excuses made. Some of us were careless, we failed to do our duty, and now a young girl is suffering because of it. I only hope that we can rectify the problem, that with patience and hard work, we can help Sara accept that she is not damaged in any way, shape or form. That she is a unique child with unique powers and that she should never have been made to feel ashamed of that."
The couple sat there nodding, clinging to the older man's assurances that this wasn't their fault. Sara's integration to Hogwarts would not be easy.
The door swung open slowly, breaking through the Headmaster's troubling thoughts. A familiar figure stood in the doorway.
"Ah, Severus," Albus stood up and walked around his desk. "How did everything go?"
"I found the girl without any difficulties. No one at the hospital will miss her... they'll never know she was there. I've even managed to obtain all files pertaining to Miss Sara Michaels." He turned his gaze from Dumbledore and looked at the parents. "I believe that you should have these." Standing in front of Amy and Joseph, Snape extended a thick bundle of file folders their way. The woman looked at him fearfully, as if she was uncertain of what she thought of him. No matter, he was used to people looking at him that way. Joseph looked from the papers in Snape's hand to Dumbledore, sending the older man a questioning look.
"Of all the people here, you have the right to decide what to do with these files. Unless Miss Michaels wants something done with them." For the first time, Dumbledore addressed the frail-looking girl who had followed Snape into the room. Sara merely stood there, staring mutely at the floor. Clad in the hospital-issued gown and slippers, the girl looked even more vulnerable. Albus wondered how they could have let this happen.
"Sara, honey," Amy stated reassuringly. "What do you want us to do with these?" She stood up and walked up to her daughter, reaching out to draw her into a hug. The girl drew back, out of her mother's reach. Amy looked hurt.
"I don't care what you do with those," the child muttered to her feet.
"Baby, this is Albus Dumbledore," Joseph explained slowly. He left his chair and crouched down before his daughter. "Mummy and I have been talking with him, and we all have something very important to tell you. Is that alright with you?"
The little girl refused to look at his face. Head down, eyes blinking, she droned tonelessly "I'm not supposed to be here. I have to go back to the hospital… they'll be mad if they find out I was gone."
Amy stepped forward, trying to hug her child again. "Oh, honey… no, you don't belong in the hospital." During this time, Dumbledore busied himself with drawing up two chairs out of thin air: one squashy armchair like the one the Michaels' had sat in, one rigid-backed wooden chair. The headmaster had learned long ago that Professor Snape would only turn his nose up at the older man's usual choice of chairs.
"Why don't we all sit down and discuss this?" he suggested gently.
I'm so glad I don't have to explain this to her, thought Snape.
Dumbledore had spent the past 20 minutes talking softly. To his credit, he had been speaking directly to the young girl the entire time, treating her as though he felt she was mature enough to listen to this earth-shattering news and be able to understand it all. And maybe she is, Snape thought. If he understood correctly, the girl had never been treated as a normal child her entire life. She'd been viewed as an oddity, psychologically flawed. She had had doctors and specialists analyzing her and talking down to her, but how many people in her life had actually spoken to her?
All eyes were fixed on young Miss Michaels as the headmaster finally stopped talking in his soft, calm voice. He leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled together, waiting for her to respond. The girl merely sat there, looking at her hands clasped in her lap, her wispy brown hair forming curtains around her face, hiding her expression. A defensive move, a way of hiding. Snape understood it immediately… how many times had he sat in exactly the same way, hiding behind waves of his own greasy black hair? It was one of the main reasons the potions master had kept his hair so long for most of his life… that and the fact that he loathed taking the effort to get it cut. It was nice to be able to hide in plain sight, sometimes.
Snape couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards the girl… something he had never felt for one of his students. She had been made to feel as though she didn't belong for her entire life… defective and rejected. How would she handle this final blow?
Time seemed to stand still as everyone waited for Sara to respond. Dumbledore seemed disinclined to urge the girl to answer, and everyone else followed suite. Minutes crawled by, until finally Amy couldn't stand the silence any longer.
"Sara, honey… I know this sounds strange… but it's all true," she began reassuringly. "Every word of it. There's really nothing wrong with you, sweetie. Everything's fine now." Severus fought back the urge to snort. Everything really wasn't fine, but the woman seemed to cling to that pretty lie. Miss Michaels gave no indication that she was listening.
"Are you and Dad witches, too?" she asked softly. Amy and Joseph looked at each other.
"No," Dumbledore clarified softly. "Your mother is not a witch, nor is your father a wizard. They are non-magical people… Muggles, as we call them. But, as I said, sometimes witches and wizards can be born into entirely non-magical families. This is why you have been having visions, Sara. You are a witch, but nobody knew that until now."
"Does that mean I'm evil?" she whispered, still not looking up. Snape could see the girl drawing in on herself. Good Lord, the poor child. Amy gasped, tears welling in her eyes.
"Do you think we're evil?" Dumbledore asked neutrally. The girl finally looked up, sizing up the headmaster first, and then glancing over at Snape. Their eyes locked for a moment, then she looked away.
"No," she admitted quietly. The potions master looked sharply at the girl. She never noticed that she was being watched. Observing her huddled-up frame and the way she continued staring at her lap, Severus could tell that Sara was far from convinced. And there was no way that anyone could make her believe otherwise. A horrible realization dawned on the potions master.
The child still thinks she's insane! It was what she had been made to believe her entire life. How could any of them expect her to suddenly believe otherwise? Especially when something as out of the ordinary and unbelievable as wizards and witches and a special school for magic was being presented to the girl as being real.
Dumbledore continued talking to the Michaels family in his usually wise and calming manner. He was discussing a bit of how life at Hogwarts would be for Sara, what a usual school day was like, accommodations and classes and meals and the like. The parents nodded eagerly and sent their daughter reassuring looks, trying their best to convince her that everything was fine. They looked too happy, too relieved. Their confident expressions looked utterly fake. For the life of him, Severus couldn't imagine why the couple would put on such a show. Severus knew, though he would never admit it aloud, that children were not stupid. Young Miss Michaels had to know that she was, once again, in a very unusual situation.
"The Hogwarts Express journeys to the London Cross station to collect our students on the first of September," Dumbledore explained serenely. "You may choose to send Miss Michaels on the Express or, if you prefer, she could stay here for the remaining week before school. It would give her time to acclimatize herself to the castle." He gazed gently at the young girl. "Which do you prefer?"
Sara's eyes darted quickly from Dumbledore's face to the wall, to her parents and then around the room. Then she looked beseechingly into her father's eyes. "I want to go home." Her voice was a ghost of a sound. "I don't want to stay here. I shouldn't be here, anyways…" The child's voice trailed off into nothingness. Tears sprang into Amy's eyes once more.
"Oh, sweetie," she gasped, touching the girl's shoulder. Then she looked at Dumbledore. "I think it would be better if she stayed here and got used to the place. I mean, it would be difficult for her to make the journey back here alone." It irked the potions master that Mrs. Michaels was completely disregarding what her daughter was telling her.
"Perhaps someone should walk the three of you through the school a bit." Severus had surprised everyone in the room, even himself, by speaking up. Cursing himself for not following his instincts and keeping quiet, he continued. "Miss Michaels has no knowledge of this place or the people here. Perhaps she would feel more comfortable if she got to explore the castle and the grounds a bit. After that, we can return to discussing the issue of whether or not she should stay here for the remainder of the summer." Sara had shrunk back into the enormous chair while Snape spoke. Amy looked like she was about to disagree when Joseph spoke up in favour of Snape's suggestion.
The most disturbing reaction was that of Dumbledore. He merely looked quietly at the professor, twining his fingers together and resting his chin on them. Snape glanced away, annoyed. Why the hell is he looking at me like that? Stop it!
He had the greatest respect for Dumbledore, and greatly owed him for giving a repentant Death Eater a chance when no one else would. But the man drove him nearly mad at times. Always siding with Potter, Weasley and Granger, even encouraging them at times. Protecting them when they should have been expelled a dozen times, intervening when Snape meant to fail them, or at least Potter and Weasley, who did deserve it. But he almost hated the headmaster for the way he was looking right now. That pensive, almost knowing look.
You think I care for this girl, that I care about what happens to her. Not in the least bit. Pity her, yes. I'm shocked and disgusted that something like this could happen… that someone's mind and spirit should be damaged because of the ignorance of her parents. I feel this should have never happened to her. I've long gotten over my childish hatred of Muggle-born wizards and I don't think she deserved all of this. But, dammit, I don't care for her, you old fool. Don't pretend that I do! This doesn't change who I am.
Snape continued to mentally rail against the headmaster. Why in God's name did Dumbledore choose to get him involved in this? Why not send McGonagall or Sprout or Hagrid… Well, never mind that one. But, there were at least a dozen people better suited for this job than himself. It still confused him to no end.
While he was lost in thought, Dumbledore had sent a flying paper memo flying to somewhere in the castle. Joseph and Amy both looked amazed, chatting to Sara too brightly and telling her how fun magic looked. The girl still seemed to be dubious and slightly frightened. Snape couldn't help thinking how difficult it would be to get this child adjusted to life in the wizarding world. She'd have troubles fitting in, that would be certain. Being locked up for years couldn't have been good for her social skills, and she looked vulnerable. That, combined with the fact that she was Muggle-born make her a target for ridicule, and worse, from some of the less accepting members of Hogwarts. Though Snape favoured the Slytherins, he had no illusions about them. They were cruel and would torment this girl relentlessly, especially if she ended up in Gryffindor. Once again, he had to question Dumbledore's decision to bring her to Hogwart's in the first place.
Brisk footsteps sounded up the stairs as the Headmaster chatted with the Michaels. As usual, Severus distanced himself as much as possible form small talk. He stood closest to the door as someone rapped on it sharply. "Ah," Dumbledore stated serenely. "Come in."
A tall, strict looking woman stepped into the room. As Sarah looked at the stranger, she instantly thought of this one movie she'd seen long ago, about a bunch of singing nuns. Or, rather, one nun who taught a bunch of others to sing for their church choir. The new lady looked like a nun, with her dark clothing, the serious expression on her pinched, stern face and her hair hidden underneath a tall, crooked witch's hat. One look at the woman was enough to tell Sara that this was someone you didn't want angry with you.
"Good afternoon, Professor Dumbledore." She nodded curtly at the older wizard. "I understand that you wish me to take the Michaels family on a tour of the school and grounds?
Dumbledore rose from his chair to greet the new comer, and motioned to Snape to do the same. Unsure of what to do, the Michael's copied their gesture. "Professor McGonagall, perfect timing." Albus turned to the family. "There are still a few matters I need to discuss with Professor Snape, but none of you need to be here for that. Merely tying up some loose ends. I thought that this time could be best spent inspecting the castle and grounds. I hope it will put your minds at ease, and," he added with a kind wink, "give young Miss Michaels a bit of an advantage over the other first years."
As Sara's parents started to follow the witch out of the room, the young girl turned around to look at the two wizards. "Good bye, Professor Dumbledore. Good bye Severus," she said softly. "Thank you for bringing me here."
Professor McGonagall froze, a look of pure shock on her face. That any student would dare to call the potions master by his given name was inconceivable. She half expected the man to let loose some of the verbal poison for which he was so famed, or to send her a glare of pure death. Instead, he merely turned away, blushing, and tilted his face in order to conceal it behind his dark hair.
Would wonders never cease?