(working title -China Doll)

Chapter 1 – Unforeseen consequences

In a hidden castle in the Scottish highlands an old man dozed in a chair by the window a glass of whisky next to him, enjoying a rare moment of quiet on a warm sunny day.

Between the demands of his many obligations, he scarcely had a moment to himself. 'Perhaps too many' he would sometimes admit to his closest friends.

He chuckled quietly as he briefly entertained the thought of simply running off and travelling the world as he had in his youth. He was sure Minerva would be up to the task of running the school, during the busier times of the year, she was for all intents and purposes, in charge.

Letting his plans for his imaginary 'vacation' run away with him, his thoughts turned, as they often did these days, to Hannah Potter.

It had been nearly ten years since he last saw her and yet her name was on the forefront of everyone's mind. Whenever there was a gathering of witches or wizards, someone would eventually raise a glass and call "to Hannah Potter, the Girl who lived."

It was a sad tale at the best of times. More than twenty years ago, the self made 'Dark Lord' Voldemort brought the magical world to its knees. His bloody and vicious campaign lasted almost a decade before being stopped by a child barely a year old. Halloween ten years ago, Voldemort had tried to murder the Potter and had died in the assault. The only survivor had been Hannah Potter, now known as 'the girl who lived'.

For her own good, had been quick to place the girl with her remaining family before using magic to protect her, magic that was so old, powerful and forgotten that not even he fully understood it.

And now the girl was so well protected not even he knew where she was, only that she was alive, maybe if he'd had more time he could have-

"ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!" the voice came through his solid oak door, bypassed his ears and grabbed him firmly by the throat. He briefly considered fleeing through the nearby window; it would most likely be quicker and less painful than what was coming.

He had barely squashed that impulse, and turned his chair around when his door was thrown open with enough force to rattle his office by an enraged banshee. After a moment's panic he realised it was actually a furious Professor McGonagall. Personally. Dumbledore preferred his chances with a banshee.

The irate witch, his deputy headmistress, was a tall and severe-looking woman who at the moment bordered on outright terrifying. It was a testament to their long running friendship that Dumbledore didn't follow through on the returning impulse to jump out the window.

"Besides" he told himself "she wouldn't really to kill me." I hope.

After almost five minutes of some very creative cursing, some of it was even in english, he wasn't so sure about that. She had, however, finally calmed down enough to soften her accent and actually say something he could understand.

"The worst sort of muggles I said! I told you that leaving her there was a bad idea but would you listen!? No!" Despite the summer heat Dumbledore suddenly felt cold. "Once again you had to have your own way and let other people clean up the mess, god only knows what they have done to that poor girl to reduce her to that! I had to resort to threats! When have I ever had to resort to threats?!"

Dumbledore decided, wisely as she still had her wand in hand, not to answer that and chose instead to ask the question he wasn't sure he wanted as answer to "Minerva, please, tell me what has happened, is this about young Hannah?"

Professor McGonagall shot him a withering glare before pulling some letters out of her pocket and passed the first to him.

At a glance it was a standard Hogwarts acceptance letter, the weight of it told him it was the muggle-born letter which had some extra information, such as a small book, all with the same address.

Miss H. Potter
Smallest bedroom
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey

'No such person at this address' was written on the envelope.

Dumbledore Glanced at the witch.

"I sent the letter through the muggle post like we do for all the muggle born, " she explained, "a few days later it came back, I assumed it was a mistake at the post office and sent the next letter by owl" she passed him a large brown envelope, inside was an unopened hogwarts letter and a letter from Petunia Dursley.

Reading between the lines the letter made it clear that Hannah would not be attending Hogwarts and that no witch or wizard, was to contact them again.

Taking a deep, calming, breath the headmaster placed the letter on his desk and turned to his deputy. "Perhaps" he said "it would be best if you started from the beginning"

##

Professor McGonagall sighed as she walked down a small side street in Surrey, ideally she would have apparated directly to the house but the entire street was warded against apparition. It was a cross-reaction Albus hadn't expected, so she was forced to land in a nearby park and walk.

Every year she set aside time to visit the upcoming muggle born students, to help answer any questions and in many cases prove the existence of magic and this would be her last stop of the day.

She had just come from a lovely woman up near oxford, if her daughter's reaction to the revelation was anything to go by she would be a joy to teach, so many questions, she chuckled to herself potential Ravenclaw I think

Her good mood evaporated the moment she turned the corner into Privet Drive. She hated places like this, rows of houses, as identical as a the inside of a beehive. The owners living in a constant game of one-upmanship, each trying to subtly out-do each other without being unique or doing anything "scandalous" in anyway. All the while, waiting for their neighbours to slip-up and reveal themselves to be the weirdoes they always suspected them to be. She found the whole thing to be pretentious.

If the people living here could see her, they would be practically hanging out of the windows to watch. Thankfully, a simple notice-me-not charm kept anyone from noticing her.

Pushing those thoughts to one side she stopped outside number 4. Taking a moment to examine not only the house but also the wards. The building was the same off-white as all the others, with a meticulously kept garden in full bloom.

The wards however, were another matter. She had to give Albus credit, the wards were a work of art, possibly of the twisted abstract impressionist kind. Warding was never her strongest subject but from what she could make out it was only because the wards were weakening, intentionally now the young witch-to-be was eleven, that she was able to see the house at all, never mind approach it.

Walking forwards, she shivered slightly as the wards brushed over her, dispelling her notice-me-not charm.

Shaking off the sensation, she knocked on the front door. The professor had not been expecting a warm welcome, the letter had made that obvious, but the look Petunia gave her when she opened the door was of pure loathing.

"What are you doing here?" the horse faced woman hissed, quickly glancing around in fear, "I thought we made it perfectly clear that we want nothing to do with any of you!"

Ignoring the younger woman's outburst, professor McGonagall drew herself to full height "Mrs Dursley I am here to talk to you about Hannah Potter and her future in the magical world."

"There is nothing to talk about! She's staying here and that's final!" with that Petunia tried to close the door only to find it wouldn't move.

"Perhaps we should continue this discussion inside, unless you want to have this discussion where your neighbours can see?" Professor McGonagall's tone was clearly not a suggestion. Seeing no other option and thoughts of the neighbours hanging over her head she stepped aside.

The door unstuck and closed itself as soon as the professor was inside.

Inside the house was much like its exterior, mostly shades of white and meticulously clean. McGonagall idly wondered if they had a house elf before dismissing the idea, the potter house elves had been lost with the manor years ago and the Dursleys, as non-magicals, were not able or permitted to employ one.

Following Petunia through the hall and into the living room she was met with the sight of a very large man watching t.v.

"V-Vernon?" Petunia called, faltering slightly as she struggled on what to call the witch "we have a guest"

Vernon barely glanced over his shoulder at the pair, grunting in acknowledgement before registering what he saw. He spun around to get a better look at the elderly woman in funny clothes. His face turned a worrying shade of purple as he jumped out of the chair and stormed towards the pair.

"what is she doing here?!" He bellowed.

"As I told Mrs Dursley I am here to discuss Hannah Potter and her future" McGonagall's tone would have frozen lava.

"She's going to Stonewall like all the other waste around here" he growled out, getting as close as he dared, placing himself between the witch and his wife.

Drawing herself to full height, and adding just enough magic to the air to be noticeable Professor McGonagall took a step forward, noting the way the Dursleys stepped back and ignoring the a young boys cry about the TV from upstairs.

"Mr Dursley, Hannah has had a place reserved at Hogwarts since she was born and her parents made it clear she was to attend when she was old enough, as you were told when you took her in!"

"Made clear to who? You dump the little freak on us with only a letter to explain what happened and then you just expect us to hand her over? No, when we took her in we swore we would stamp that nonsense out of her so she's not going and that's final!"

McGonagall again cursed Albus for his actions but refused to back down now, "regardless the final decision rests with Hannah." Vernon opened his mouth but she cut him off.

"I would like to speak with her."

Vernon's purple face paled, "she's not here, she's gone to a friends for the summer"

McGonagall's temper, for which she was rightly famed, feared and respected in equal measure, finally broke through her patience. In a slow movement she drew her wand, watching in satisfaction as Vernon's eyes widened, and tapped it against the palm of her free hand idly.

"Vernon Dursley, I wish to talk to Hannah potter, immediately" her voice was calm, deliberate and terrifying.

The silence stretched as she continued to glare at them, broken only by the sounds of the TV upstairs. Eventually Petunia's nerve finally broke, "Hannah! Get d… Can you come here p..Please?"

Professor McGonagall had her back to the stairs so she had no warning when a minute later an almost inaudible voice came from behind "Yes aunt Petunia"

The elderly witch hadn't been sure coming here just what to expect but this young girl was certainly not it.

After the fall of the Dark Lord a number of books had been written about Hannah potter, The most popular of which was a series of fictional adventures. The books painted a picture of a happy young girl, who looked closer to 16 than 11, with dark hair and green eyes, based on her last known appearance as no one had seen her since the night of the fall.

The girl before her however, was small for her age, tiny even. With long dark lifeless hair, the fringe stopping just above her dull brown eyes and heavy framed glasses, her skin was unnaturally pale and her dress looked more like an oversized shirt that was brought in at the waist with some ribbon.

The temperature in the room dropped, fighting down her temper the elderly witch tried to run through her usual script when meeting children of non-magicals for the first time.

"Good afternoon Miss Potter, My Name Professor McGonagall and I am here to invite you to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry" with that she pulled a thick envelope from her pocket and handed it to the child.

What followed was one of the most uncomfortable meetings in McGonagall's memory.

Hannah didn't ask any questions and only gave short, minimal answers when asked anything, and hadn't even glanced at the letter she had been handed. It wasn't until Lilly Potter, Hannah's mother was mentioned that the young girl showed any form of interest.

"My mother was a Witch?" something moved behind Hannah's eyes.

"Of course, Your mother was a joy to teach, she was such an intelligent and lively woman. That's how she met your father. They married almost as soon as they graduated," McGonagall smiled at the memory of her favorite students.

Hannah's eyes narrowed slightly and for the first time she actually looked directly at the letter, then the professor followed by the Dursleys and then finally back to the professor "I would like to attend your school" her quiet voice held a hint of something that wasn't there before.

"NO!"

The young girl pulled in on herself at Vernon's shout "I've already told you she's not going, I refuse to pay for some senile old crack pot to teach her magic tricks. Now get out of-"

McGonagall looked about ready to breathe fire, "you have no say in this matter Mr Dursley! Hannah's tuition was paid for years ago and under magical law you have no right to stop her attending"

##

Sitting in his Office Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to releave the building headache "I assume it was a watch locket you gave her?" Watch lockets had been around for years and most families made use of them in some form or another, he knew the Weasleys used a modified grandfather clock.

A mix of tracking and status charms would allow Minerva to know the moment something happened to Hannah "My mother used it to keep track of me and my brothers when we were younger. I'm meeting Miss Granger on Saturday, I plan to take Hannah along, that should give me a chance to see how she is away from the Dursleys." "Thank you Minerva, please let me know how it goes."

AN: The basic idea for this one was "How to get a Rei expy into HP"
I had to use some fanon cliches to really make this work but i've tried to be more original in how they came about.