Chapter 14
"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Minerva said smiling at the girl's expression. The gates in front of them opened, and as they walked up towards the castle, Arianna's hand in Minerva's, she tried to take everything in around her, an expression of excitement and wonder on her face.
They soon entered the castle and made their way up to the hospital wing where Poppy was organizing and getting ready for the oncoming school year.
"Poppy!" Minerva called, helping Arianna to sit on a bed. Poppy heard her friend call her and came over to where she was standing, surprised to see she wasn't alone.
"Well hello, Minerva what can I do for you?" Poppy asked giving her friend a questioning look.
"Poppy, this is Arianna, Arianna Winters." Minerva replied and slightly pulled her away from Arianna.
"I need you to take a look at her, she is a student this year, I had to take her away from those awful muggles Poppy, they beat her, not to mention she has a nasty bite on her leg, from a dog." Minerva explained quietly, Poppy eyes grew wide, and she turned to look at the girl, her hair was in front of her face, but she could see her tied ankle quite clearly. Poppy nodded and headed over to Arianna.
"Arianna, this is Madam Pomfrey, our medi-witch, she is going to take a look at your bruises and your ankle. I dont want you to hide anything from her." She said sternly, "I have to go and talk with Professor Dumbledore, I will be back shortly." Arianna looked up at her, fear in her eyes.
"It's alright Arianna, Madam Pomfrey will help you, she's my friend." Minerva said giving the girl a comforting smile. Arianna nodded and as Poppy began to examine her, Minerva left the wing to go and speak with Albus.
"Albus?" Minerva called walking into his office, she found him sitting at his desk reading a letter. When he looked up to see his wife, he smiled and put down the letter.
"Did you inform Miss. Winters parents of their daughter's letter being no joke?" He asked curiously,
"No not exactly, Albus those muggles are not her parents! She told me, and I don't blame her, Albus they beat her! She gets sever injuries from tending to animals, and they do nothing for her! Not to mention how thin she is," Minerva said continuing on telling Albus how worried she was for this child.
"Where is she now?" Albus asked, his face serious, concern written on it as well.
"The hospital wing, with Poppy." Minerva replied, Albus stood and the two of them began to walk to the hospital wing.
"Albus there is something else," Minerva said and Albus stopped and turned to her curiously, "Albus, she has your eyes, your exact eye colour, you and our daughter are the only people I have ever seen with that colour. Albus, is it, do you think, is it possible that she could be our daughter?" Minerva asked rushed, hope in her eyes and on her face. Albus closed his eyes and sighed.
"No, Arianna is gone Minerva. It isn't her." He said and before Minerva could protest, he continued walking to the hospital wing.
"Miss Winters, is there anywhere else that you have been hurt?" Poppy asked softly, after finishing with the girls nastily bitten ankle, and rubbing a salve on her bruised face. Arianna looked down and mumbled something.
Poppy looked at her expectantly, "What was that?" She asked.
"Just some bruises, it's nothing really." She said not looking at the medi-witch. Poppy looked at her suspiciously, "well, let's see these bruises then." Arianna took a deep breath and pointed to her ribs.
Poppy lifted her dress, and gasped slightly at the site of Arianna's dark and purple bruised and possible broken ribs. Just as she gave Arianna a potion to help the broken bones, Albus and Minerva walked in.
Arianna finished the potion and handed it to Poppy, making a face letting everyone know just how foul it had tasted.
"Arianna, this is Professor Dumbledore." Minerva said kneeling down beside the bed. Arianna looked up at Albus, who was taken aback. Minerva had been right about the girl's eyes. But she couldn't be right about her being their daughter, 'the eye colour is simply a coincidence' he told himself.
"Hello." She said, and he smiled, as Madam Pomfrey carefully applied more salve onto her ribs.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Winters, how are you feeling?" He asked.
"Better, Madam Pomfrey is a fabulous doctor." She said, all the adults smiled.
"Indeed she is, my girl, the best I know, you are in very good hands. Would you excuse us for a moment?" He asked, and Arianna nodded. Albus led Minerva and Poppy into Poppy's office and shut the door behind them.
"How bad are her injuries Poppy?" He asked in a serious voice.
"Well, her ankle had a nasty bite, it will take a few days to heal, I assume she's been bitten before, judging by the scars she's got. She is covered in bruises, there isn't as much internal damage as I had expected, only slight bleeding thats been taken care of, the worst of her injuries other than the bite, seems to be a few broken ribs," She told him, "but I'd like to keep her here for at least a week for observation." She added.
Minerva looked highly concerned as she took all this in, looking at Albus, she watched him nod.
"She may stay until she is healed, but after that, we cannot keep her here, she needs to be with other children, and we have duties to perform before students get here. I would suggest the Weasley's, I shall give them a call later in the afternoon, Minerva, once her health is back up to par, would you take her to get her school things?" He asked and she nodded.
"Good, Poppy I expect reports on how our young student is doing." He said, Poppy nodded, saying 'of course', before Albus left the office, followed by the ladies.
Stopping at Arianna's bed he said, "Miss Winters, I wish you the best, I must be off, as the muggles would say get well soon." He said, smiling, Arianna smiled and thanked him before he left the hospital wing.
Arianna watched him leave with a confused face, "What are muggles?" She asked, Minerva smiled before answering.
"A muggle is what we call a person who doesn't have magic." She explained.
"I have some things I must finish up, I'm sure Madam Pomfrey would like me to leave so she can finish up with you. I'll be back later." Minerva said with a sympathetic smile. Arianna nodded and Minerva got up to leave.
"Minerva," Poppy called and Minerva stopped and turned about half way to the doors of the wing, "Minerva, I've never seen you act this way with a student, what's going on?" Poppy whispered to her friend.
Minerva sighed, "I don't know, it's just, look at her Poppy, her eyes, I just-"
"No, Minerva don't put yourself in that position," Poppy interrupted knowing exactly what her friend thought. Minerva's eyes grew watery and she looked away from her friend.
"I've things to finish up." She said in barely a whisper before turning and walking out of the hospital wing.
In the course of just over a week Arianna's health was much better, Professor McGonagall came to visit her every day, and told her that today the two would go out to Diagon Alley to buy her school supplies.
"But Professor, I haven't any money." Arianna told her worried. Minerva smiled.
"No need to worry about that, the school will pay for your things." Minerva explained and Arianna nodded. She liked Professor McGonagall very much and after hearing Minerva explain Transfiguration, and give a demonstration, Arianna was sure that was going to be her favourite subject.
Every day Arianna would look forward to Minerva's visits, the two would sit and talk about Hogwarts and what was going to happen in a few days, when Arianna would leave Hogwarts for the Weasley's. Minerva had explained that Professor Dumbledore thought it would be nice for her to spend the rest of the summer vacation with some kids her age, and how the other professors including herself, had much to do still before the students arrived on September the 1st.
"Alright, are you ready then?" Minerva asked, seeing Arianna nod, the pair made their way from the hospital wing, and out onto the grounds towards the gates. When they got outside the gates, Minerva instructed Arianna to grab a hold of her arm so they could apparate to the Leaky Cauldron.
Minerva made sure Arianna was alright, before they entered the busy wizard pub. They made their way throught the pub all the way to the back. Arianna was looking around amazed, she saw people drying cups with a towel and then the cup disappeared, there was a coffee pot floating around, and it would pour coffee into cups of those who wanted some, by itself!
Arianna was a bit confused when they came into a back room, and it turned out to be a dead end. She was just about to ask Professor McGonagall about it, when she pulled out her wand, and taped numerous bricks on the wall in a specific order.
Suddenly the wall began to open, revealing a street bustling with wizards, going from shop to shop.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley." Professor McGonagall said, smiling at Arianna's excited and shocked expression. Minerva took Arianna's hand, as it was an extremely busy day at Diagon Alley and she didn't want the girl to get lost. She couldn't help but think about her own daughter. How it would be her first year at Hogwarts, she wonderered if it would have been Minerva or Albus, or perhaps both that would take her to Diagon Alley. Minerva was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts when she felt a tug of her hand.
"Where do we start Professor?" Arianna asked looking around at everything around her.
"Well, why don't we start at Flourish and Blotts, to get your books?" Minerva said with a smile, Arianna looked up at her excitedly as they entered the shop.
As they were looking around for the different books, Arianna surprised the professor, "I've never had a book. Well I've borrowed some, but I've never had one of my own." She said as she placed a text book she had found into the basket Minerva was holding.
"You've never had a book?" Minerva asked shocked.
"No, but I love to read. Especially fiction." She said as she went off to another shelf to look for her last text book. Minerva was surprised, 'had her parents never been kind enough to even get her a small book?' Minerva thought to herself, but then quickly remembered how it was that Arianna came to be shopping with her, and then it didn't seem all too surprising. Minerva decided to get Arianna a book. She moved over to the fiction section and picked one of her favourite wizarding fiction novels, it was rather large, but she was confident that Arianna would be able to get through it. She seemed like a very smart girl, despite her lack of schooling.
She hid the book under some of her text books, Minerva wanted it to be a surprise for Arianna, so she quickly moved away from the section before Arianna could come back with her last text book.
Finally Minerva paid for the books, effectively keeping her gift hidden from Arianna. Arianna bounced on her toes as the books were paid for, her own books; she finally had books of her own. 'I'm going to do a LOT of reading in the next few days' she thought.
The two left Flourish and Blotts, and continued down the line of shops, the Apothecary for her Potion's ingredients, Potage's Cauldron shop for a cauldron, Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment for her scales, phials, charts and telescope, they had stopped at Madam Malkin's Robe shop to get her measurements for her new school robes, and they had also picked up a trunk to transport all her school things, and finally Ollivander's wand shop, Arianna had decided that she didn't need a pet, as she had no one to owl, and no money to buy its' food, that and she didn't want to use more of the school's money than she absolutely had to. Arianna vowed to herself that when she was old enough and had a job, she would pay back the school.
As they entered Ollivanders' Arianna got a bit scared. The shop was old and dark, the only light coming from candles. Minerva pushed her towards the desk, and hit the bell, thinking that Ollivander must be somewhere in the back of the shop.
Ollivander came sliding out from the back of a shop on a ladder, this made Arianna jump. Minerva noticed her jump and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Hello Mr. Ollivander, Miss Winters here needs a wand." Minerva said, Arianna really noticing her Scottish accent for the first time.
"Ah Professor McGonagall, good to see you, fir, and dragon heartstring, nine and a half inches, stiff, if I remember correctly?" He asked, his voice kind.
Minerva nodded, "you are, as always." She said, with a smile, Ollivander smiled.
"Now, Miss, Winters was it?" He asked, seeing her nod nervously, he smiled and continued, "would you hold out your wand arm please?" He asked, seeing her confused face he elaborated.
"The hand you write with dear." Arianna gave an embarrassed smile before holding out her right arm. A tape measure popped up and started to take different measurements of her, from her arm to shoulder, head to toe, etc.
When it was done, Ollivander nodded and went to the back of the shop. When he came back, he was carrying a few different boxes. He set them down on the counter and opened one, handing Arianna the wand inside. Minerva stepped back a bit to give her some space as Ollivander described the wand.
"Oak, Unicorn tail, 8 inches, Stiff, give it a wave." He said, Arianna looked up at him and waved the wand, a vase behind Ollivander suddenly exploded. Arianna gasped and put the wand down very quickly.
"Nope, not that one." He said taking the wand and putting it back into the box, while opening another.
"I'm so sorry!" Arianna apologized, shocked that she had done that.
"It's quite alright, it happens every day, Just a bit of magic, and it will be fixed in no time, in fact I believe your professor here, broke a window with her first wand." He said comforting her a bit, Arianna looked back to Minerva who shook her head and blushed.
When she turned back around Ollivander handed her another wand, with a gulp, she took it and waved it. This time a stool broke. Arianna cringed and set the wand down, only to be given another. It seemed she had gone through hundreds of wands, and she was beginning to think that she would never find one, when Ollivander suddenly looked like a light bulb had gone off in his head.
He rushed off, and didn't come back for several minutes. When he came back, he was dusting off an extremely old wand box. Opening the box, he revealed a beautiful wand, it was a dark stained looking colour, and had a beautiful and intricate design carved into it. He pulled out the wand and handed it to Arianna.
The moment she touched the wand, she felt a sort of warmth, a sparkling orange light surrounded her. She was amazed. Suddenly the light faded, and Ollivander looked pleased.
"Elm, phoenix feather core, eight and a half inches and slightly springy. A very beautiful wand, and very excellent for charms and transfiguration." He said, Arianna looked very pleased, she looked to Professor McGonagall, achievement on her face, Minerva smiled and nodded to her. She paid Ollivander and the two left the shop. Arianna thanked him, and apologized again before leaving.
Minerva and Arianna went back to Madam Malkin's to pick up Arianna's finished first year school robes, before leaving Diagon Alley, and heading to the Burrow, where Arianna would be staying with the Weasley's for the remainder of the summer.
Hey guys! Sorry for the delay! I got a bit of writers block about half way through, but changed some things and it was all good! Hopefully you like it! I go to Scotland on friday so i wont be able to update on the weekend but i can work on the next chapter, but also I am on a two week break off of school so hopefully i can get a few more updates! I love my school! ;) Hope you like it! :)