The tea kettle chattered as Harriett stared outside her kitchen window. The kitchen had been painted a happy yellow color but this did little for her mood. She had noticed that her magnolia trees had started to blossom and the large white flowers dotted the big bushy foliage. She sighed, even this did not brighten her dark mood.
Grabbing her crutches that lay against the counter she hobbled over to the stove and took the kettle off the fire. After turning the stove off, she leaned heavily on the arm rests of her crutches to pour herself a cup of steaming hot water. Reaching over to grab a bag of her morning tea, her hand knocked into a large fuzzy objected that yowled out a protest. Harriet looked over to only be met with a disapproving hazel eyed stare of a chestnut cat on her kitchen counter.
"What is it Tufty?" She questioned the cat reaching around her to grab her tea bag out of the box in the cabinet. The cat stared on not replying but its anger was clearly deepening.
"You know this doesn't make me any happier…besides YOU are half the reason my leg is broken you know" Harriet scolded the cat as she dipped the tea bag inside her coffee mug.
The cat replied with a hiss and jumped down from the buttery colored counter to join her other cat companions who had all sauntered into the kitchen looking for a meal. Sighing, Harriet took a sip of her tea and looked at the calendar that was placed on her mint green fridge in plain view. Todays date was circled with a thick red marker around it to remind her that Harry was to come over this afternoon to spend the day with her. However, in her current condition she couldn't do much for the boy.
The Dursleys trusted her to watch Harry whenever they wanted to do a family outing without him. Today was especially important because it was that awful boy Dudley's birthday and he wouldn't have Harry anywhere near him during his day. It really hurt Harriet so much to see Harry's polite but crestfallen face as she opened the door to greet him whenever he came over. She wished that he could have a better time visiting her, but that would only make the Dursleys more suspicious of her and they would probably prevent Harry from coming over if he was having a good time.
Harry looked so much like his father, the dark hair that stuck out in every direction and the mysterious smile. Harry was always polite but she definitely caught him a time or two trying to escape out the bathroom window just like his father would probably do if he had been stuck in the same circumstances. Harriet's heart hurt whenever she looked at Harry, it was like loosing James all over again whenever he came over. However, she had a duty to fulfill and she was going to do it for both James and Lily Potter.
Harriet set her tea down and picked up her phone that was mounted on the yellow daisy wallpaper of the kitchen. Wrapping her fingers of her left hand in the tangled cord, she punched the telephone number of the Dursleys with her right index finger and waited for the ring.
"Hello, Dursley residence!" came the bright and cheerful voice of Petunia Dursley. Her voice was always so thickly sweet it made Harriet sick.
"Hello Petunia, it's Mrs. Arabella Figg… I am so sorry to have to do this to you but I've broken my leg and I cannot watch Harry this afternoon. I hope it's not too much of a bother…"
Harriet spent the rest of the day sitting on her couch and nursing her broken leg that remained in a large blue cast. She propped it up on pillows like the doctor had instructed and placed a large bag of frozen peas on it to keep the swelling down. When it was time for bed, she hobbled into her bathroom and stood in front of her bathroom mirror looking at herself staring back.
The youthful features of her once heart-shaped face were now masked with deep lines and ridges of old age. The brown sleek hair that she so easily tied up in her bun for work in the morning was now replaced with gray fly away frizz that stuck out under a bonnet cap she wore to tame it. Staring back at her were not her bright and young brown eyes but dull and worn eyes of an aged woman. Harriet scowled at herself as the chestnut cat jumped up onto the bathroom counter and meowed.
Turning away from the mirror to grab a towel off the rack behind her, Harriet nearly crashed into professor McGonagall who suddenly stood beside her in the tiny rose colored bathroom. Crying out her surprise, Harriet teetered backwards but caught herself on the counter before toppling to the floor.
"Professor! What are you doing here!?" she breathed both surprised and a little frustrated.
"Have you seen the news Harriet?" the professor asked her face darkening. Harriet had the TV on in the other room but she had not been paying attention to it. By the look on the professor's face however, something told her that she wasn't going to like it.
Grabbing her crutches and hobbling back to the living room, Harriet grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned up the volume on a news report. Professor McGonagall followed her as Tufty slinked close to the professor's heels.
"…I'm reporting from the Zoo where apparently a young boy released a snake from the reptile habitat earlier this afternoon. Police say they do not know how the boy managed it since the habitat is fully enclosed in glass but they are urging people to report any large snakes in the area…"
The pretty blonde reporter kept on with her story but Harriet stopped listening when Professor McGonagall interrupted the news with her stern voice.
"Harry went to the zoo today with the Dursleys…"
"Yes, my leg was broken and I couldn't watch him. What does that have to do with a snake escaping from the zoo?"
Tufty let out a meow as the professor rubbed her forehead, "Harry let the snake escape by magic Harriet. This is why you must be responsible for watching him, he could harm himself and a lot of other muggles."
Harriet's heart raced as she sunk down into the corduroy of her couch. She was the one responsible for the mishap today, not the unfortunate boy who had no idea who he was or what he was capable of just yet. All Harriet could think to do was whisper a soft sorry to Professor McGonagall as she clasped her hands in her lap tightly.
The professor sighed and sat down next to her patting her hands softly, "It's not your fault dear, he's getting more powerful and it is dangerous when a wizard of his caliber is not aware of what he is capable of. The good news is he will be going to school soon and the burden of this responsibility will be lifted off you."
Harriet nodded as the Professor rose from the couch again fixing her robes and her pointy hat that was perched on her head.
"And our agreement?" Harriet interjected looking up at McGonagall suddenly.
"It still stands my dear, Celeste will attend Hogwarts with Harry so long as she takes over the responsibility of keeping on eye on him there." The Professor promised. After a brief pause she added lightly, "Do you know the condition of the girl's magic?"
Harriet shook her head slowly, "I only lost my magic after…well…and now I am considered a squib…but she…"
"Say no more" the professor cut her off then added, "By the way, where is she?"
Harriet pointed to the chestnut cat that was now rubbing herself against the professor's legs, "She's not too happy about the cat thing by the way, she got angry at me for not feeding her on time and caused this." She lifted her leg that was wrapped up in the cast heavily.
"Well I suppose you both have earned a little bit of time out of character for now…but I will be back soon to return the spell." The professor acknowledged taking her wand out of her sleeve.
She murmured a few quick words and a white blinding light shot out from the end of her wand engulfing both Harriet and the cat simultaneously. Once the white glow had faded, a young and youthful Harriet blinked up at her from the couch looking at her hands in wonder. A young girl with chestnut colored hair and hazel eyes sat on the ground leaning against the leg of Professor McGonagall batting her eyes in surprise.
"I'm a girl again?" she questioned looking at her hands and then kicking her legs out from under her to touch her toes.
"I'm not an old crazy cat lady!" Harriet laughed touching her face and freeing her hair from the bonnet she had worn before so she could feel it's long lengths.
The professor nodded, "Yes, but only from tonight. The spell will return once the sun comes up tomorrow."
"Thank you professor!" Harriet breathed happily picking up Celeste and hugging her. The professor nodded and vanished from the room leaving the two to their elation.
"I hate being a cat." Celeste pouted once her mother relented to putting her down.
"It's only for a short while dear, then you'll be attending the best school to learn magic." Harriet promised her as she smoothed down her hair.
"I thought you said that you didn't do magic mom."
Harriet sighed, "No dear, but that doesn't mean you can't."
As Celeste snatched up the TV remote and plopped herself down in front of it to watch, Harriet ached with the hope that she would have some talent in magic. She had given everything for her to attend Hogwarts but that was no guarantee that she was going to have magical abilities.