Chapter 2
She found out the reason why she wouldn't be returning to her current school a week before her 11th birthday.
Harriet stared at the envelope that was addressed to her in her hand. She then proceeded to quickly transport it safely into her cupboard for her to read later. For if the Dursely's saw she had a letter addressed to herself they would quickly get rid of it if only to spite her.
After quickly placing the other letters onto the dining room table, she dismissed herself to her room.
After tearing open the letter and skimming the contents, she quickly deduced the following
She was a witch
She was going to go to a school for magical folk
Magic was real
It certainly all made sense to her with all the things she could do. She couldn't believe that she didn't realize that her abilities were related to magic!
She then realized that she would need her aunt and uncle's permission to attend such a school, and grimaced. If the way they reacted to her magical abilities when she was younger were anything to go by, they would not take this very well.
After reading the letter a little bit more thoroughly she saw that they expected an answer by owl as soon as possible. "I suppose that I could ask one of the teachers for help with persuading them..." Mumbled the small green eyed girl.
She then conjured up some paper and a pen to write her response to the Deputy Headmistress.
Dear Deputy Headmistress McGonagall,
I am writing to you today to inquire if one of the professors could put aside some time in order to visit my household. My Aunt and Uncle have not taken kindly to magic over the years and have tried to rid it from my system. That is why I think that they require a bit of persuasion.
Many thanks, Harriet Lily Potter
After finishing writing the letter, she sealed it off and addressed it to the Deputy Head Mistress. 'There that should do it'. The red head nodded her head and headed out into the backyard.
The Durselys typically didn't care what she did in her free time as long as all of her chores were completed. And lucky for her she had some time to spare before she started her daily chores.
Once outside she walked to the nearest tree that she knew contained an owl (for they loved to visit her when she was locked out of the house to keep her company). "Hello Mr. Owl!" She called up the large Birch tree. After waiting a few moments she noticed medium sized brown owl poke it's head out of it's nest. "Yes, you! I was wondering if you could do me a favor and bring this letter to Hogwarts for me."
The owl responded by flying down to her and perching itself on her shoulder. "I'll take that as a yes," she said mostly to herself. "If you would please bring this letter to a Minerva McGonagall at Hogwarts I would be eternally grateful."
The owl hooted in agreement and then she pet it's feathers and handed it the letter. "May your journey be swift and safe." She said to it as it flew away.
Unknown to the young witch, she had gifted the typical young owl with the ability to find the castle, even though it surely would not have been able to find it, with it being just an average owl. But that same owl was determined to make it's mistress pleased with it's hard work.
-Line Break-
3 days after Harry sent the letter she was starting to think that her owl didn't make it. 'I wonder if it got lost? After all, how would an owl be able to find a place that I've never even been to?' She thought as she was sweeping the halls.
Just as she was about to get started on lunch, the doorbell rang. "Get the door girl!" Yelled her twig like aunt.
Peeking through the curtains to see who it was, Harry gasped. 'I can't believe they actually came!' When she opened the door she was greeted with the image of an elder woman with a pinched expression on her face dressed in black robes with a matching large conical hat.
"Hello, is there something I could help you with?" Asked Harry with an innocent tilt of her head.
'She's almost an exact image of her mother...' Shaking the thoughts out of her head, McGonagall answered.
"Yes, as a matter of fact you can. I assume you are young Harriet?" When she received a nod of confirmation she continued. "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I received your request last night and am here to help with the persuasion of your guardians and purchase of your school supplies."
"Ah yes. Please, come in, come in, and call me Harry." Waving the woman in, Harriet directed her to the sitting room.
"Girl! Who is at the-" Aunt Petunia was cut off when she caught sight of just who was in her house. She then proceeded to pale and look a bit faint. "Hhhhow... I thought that… we never even..." She fumbled over her words.
"Sorry to say Mrs. Dursley, that Harriet's letter arrived 2 days ago and she requested some assistance in... persuading you and your husband into allowing her to attend Hogwarts." Here she smiled tightly towards Petunia, and walked into the living room. "It seems that she thought that you would be against her going to the same school her parents went. Do you happen to know anything about that?" McGonagall narrowed her eyes and gave a hard look towards Harriet's aunt.
"Ah… Um… Wwwe were only looking out for the girl." It seemed that her aunt finally got her wits about her to assess the situation. "We, uh, couldn't have her going around doing magic in front of others, so, er, we made sure that she knew better. And since then we haven't seen her do a lick of magic since, we figured it worked."
Petunia hadn't seen Harriet do magic since she was young, and she was so sure that Harriet would never be able to do magic again. She didn't know what exactly caused Harriet's magic to stop, but she should have known that it was too good to be true.
"Now, if you're satisfied, I believe that Harriet deserves some answers." Right after the older witch took out her wand and turned the coffee table into a pig and back, Harry had already spaced out. This meant that she missed the entire explanation the teacher gave about the basics of the magical world, she just made sure to nod her head absentmindedly to make sure it looked like she was listening (already having it down to a science with how much she did it with the Dursleys). She was too busy thinking about all kinds of things.
If witches and wizards are real, what else is? Did this mean that all mythical creatures existed? Like goblins, orcs, unicorns, centaurs and dragons? Why did she have to use a wand? Would she have to wear a funny hat too? What types of things did they learn at school? Why was she living with the Dursleys when she was a witch? Shouldn't she be with her own kind?
Snapping back into attention when the headmistress stopped talking, she realized that they were getting ready to leave.
"Wait!" Her giraffe of an aunt called out. "What about the wards? Doesn't she need to be here for them to work?"
Turning back to Petunia, the Professor looked down her spectacles at her. "It is enough for her to stay the summers. Now we must be off, we're on a tight schedule, but do head my words Mrs. Dursley. If I ever find out that you and your family are mistreating Miss Potter ever again in the future, then you should prepare yourself and your family to live out the rest of their lives transfigured as pigs. Good day."
With that, the headmistress and the young witch left the house..
Minerva McGonagall wasn't quite sure what to make of young Harriet Potter. When she first laid her eyes on her all she could focus on was the fact that she was almost an exact copy of her mother (Except for a few facial feature inherited from her father) and her too small body in clothes that were obviously made for someone quite larger than her and were very worn down. (Obviously she wasn't being treated very well).
Now that they were leaving, she noticed that something else was a bit off about the young red headed girl. When she stared at you with her bright (too bright) green eyes, they seemed as if they were weighing the worth of your very own soul. And when you drifted too close to her the air started to feel heavy and cold, like she had her own orbit that just wanted to suck you in.
Minerva shuddered at the feeling, but pushed it to the back of her mind. She had other things to worry about at the moment.
Harry was having a wonderful day. First, an actual witch came to visit her and take her to get school supplies. And then that very same witch threatened to turn her aunt, uncle and cousin into pigs!
But she wasn't quite sure what was so bad about being a pig... They get to laze around and do nothing but eat and sleep all day. She supposed that there was the threat of being gutted and eaten by the same human being that they use to be though...
Huh...maybe being a pig wasn't all that fun then...
After walking a few blocks down the street, Professor McGonagall turned to her. "Now listen here Harriet. Wizards and witches have many different modes of magical transportation, but one of the most popular ways to travel long distances quickly is apparition. Only adult wizards should practice it, since one mishap could result in splinching.
"If you would please grab on to my robe, I'll be side-along apparating you to the entrance of Diagon Alley with me. Brace yourself, it may feel unpleasant."
And unpleasant it was. Harry imagines that this was what it would feel like to be shoved through a rubber tube at the speed of a roller coaster. She was squished in on all sides and her ears popped.
Once the ground was finally back beneath her feet (where it rightfully belonged, there really should be a better way to travel), she realized that they were at an entrance to what seemed to be a run down pub.
The magic energy was much thicker here than what she was usually use to at 4 Privet Drive, and it almost felt like there was shield around it, protecting it for prying eyes.
People were just walked by it like it didn't even exist. Which was surprising since Harry couldn't even take her eyes off the building that looked like it would fall apart at any moment.
"Ah, I see that you've noticed the muggle repelling charm," spoke the professor. Harry just nodded her head like she understood what muggle meant. "I'm surprised not many people of capable of sensing such magic of this level at your age. This building is one of the oldest pub in London, so this charm has-" and after that the teacher went on into a lecture that Harry promptly ignored again as they entered the pub.
It was a quaint little place that was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old barman, who was quite bald and looked like a gummy walnut
Although the places looks were not the cleanest or the nicest, Harriet could tell from the atmosphere and magic that this was a place for wizards to belong. Harry couldn't help but let a small smile break out onto her youthful face.
Sadly the low buzz of chatter stopped once they entered, and the whispers began.
"Hello Minerva, helping another student with supplies?" Questioned the old barman walking over from where he was.
"Yes, and we really should be on our way." Said McGonagall. She seemed to be in a rush to leave, waiting for something to go wrong.
Harriet got her answer when she shifted to follow, a non existing breeze blowing her fringe away from where it had been blocking her lightning bolt scar.
"Hey... Is that Harriet Potter?"
Hey guys what's up. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but you know how it is.
Plus, my laptop got a virus, and I dropped it one too many times and it won't work. So now I have to do my stuff on my desktop instead.
Please review, I love it when people leave me their opinion!
