Chapter One
PRESENT DAY| 1989
"Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies." - Voldemort
Halsey Potter could not describe it but since she was very little, she could sense something odd about her. She felt as though there was something else that was inside her, someone else. Sometimes when she slept, she could feel the soft brush of fingers against her bruised cheekbones, lips that pressed against her forehead in a sweet manner. She would sometimes wake up the next morning without her newest bruises and cuts on her body, as though someone had healed her overnight.
There was also the fact that she could do things that other children couldn't do.
Her hair would grow back to its original length after her aunt would cut it into a horrible, short length. She would have a bowl placed over her head and her hair would be cut into a bowl-shaped haircut before going back to its long, slightly wavy style. Her scar on her forehead, which grew each year into a spider-like lightning bolt, was also very pale against her pale, but still sort of tan skin tone. Her emerald eyes, that color that any emerald would never truly compare to for it was more beautiful than it, were dull but sometimes they would glow into a disturbing color, and she would black out before waking up and seeing she had done something that would result in her being beaten.
The very first time Halsey could remember doing the M word (Magic) it was when her aunt had made her natural, herbal tea she had always bought at the fancy organic store in town. She had poured the tea into one of her pristine, antique teacups that had been passed down throughout the generations only for Halsey to accidentally break the teacup with her mind. Aunt Petunia beat her so hard on her face that it popped a blood vessel, which in return made Halsey end up going blind in that eye until it healed gradually.
There was also the time when she was still a toddler and her aunt had tricked her by saying she would help her take a bath. Halsey had thought this was a turning point, she would finally get to have a normal aunt who loved her and cherished her. She had been wrong when the water was hot enough, she had gotten burns in the end. She cried the whole time, and Aunt Petunia said if she continued crying when she was finished with bathing her, she would take her downstairs and burn her hands on the stove in order for her to feel even more burning.
At this very moment, Halsey was in the kitchen and was cooking breakfast. She eyed the food she was preparing for her aunt, Uncle Vernon, and Cousin Dudley. She knew if she didn't cook the food the way they wanted she would have her hands burned on the stove once again and thrown into the cupboard that was her bedroom. She would not be fed or given water the whole day, as a sign of punishment for ruining breakfast and wasting away the money which was used for the food in the house.
Behind her she could hear the thundering of feet going down the worn-out staircase, heavy and making the staircase groan from the weight of the person. She didn't have to turn around to know it was Cousin Dudley. He was very overweight for his age, just like Uncle Vernon was. They both shared the love of tormenting her, hating her, he was just like his father.
She couldn't react when he came forward and punched her right above her hips. She tried to hide the sound of her distress and managed to do so, though her hand almost jolted the bacon as she finished the last flips. Her cousin seemed put out by this and went over to where his usual chair was before he sat down. She was still waiting for the day the thing would give out under him, and he would cry like a baby. Not acting like his age, which was nine. He was five weeks older than she was. She had just turned nine, herself, but it wasn't celebrated.
Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were sitting calmly at the kitchen table.
He was reading the newspaper, his beady eyes caught immediately on the articles and their titles.
His thinning hair, and walrus mustache, both in the color of sandpaper was the same color as Dudley's hair on his head, which was a mop that Aunt Petunia always tended to. Dudley would ruin the hard work that his mother had done for him, and she would giggle before saying boys would be boys. She wouldn't ever do the same thing when it came to Halsey, she was beaten black and blue.
Aunt Petunia was sitting at the table, sipping from one of her favorite teacups once again.
Her features reminded Halsey of a scarecrow.
Her eyes were a watery blue and weren't a pretty shade of blue. Her nose was long, while her lips were thin. Her neck made up most of her body, her blonde hair which was always resting on the top of her head was horribly styled. She was allergic to some of the hair products she had tried over time but continued to use them because they were what all the popular housewives of Privet Drive would use. Petunia Dursley would make sure she would have the same kind of hair products as them.
There was also the fact she was wearing an ugly dress at the moment, it swallowed her thin figure and draped itself around her like a paper bag that was wet instead of something smooth and unique like it was supposed to look. She probably spent some of her husband's bonus for the dress, and Uncle Vernon didn't care as long as he would get what he wanted too.
Halsey had barely gotten all the food onto the breakfast plates and picked up the glass pitcher filled with orange juice when the front door slammed open. She jolted and the pitcher dropped, glass shattering and flying everywhere. Some of the glass hit her and cut her arms, sending out little beads of blood. Other glass pieces went and hit both her aunt and uncle on the face, along with Dudley on the rolls of his chin and throat. They all squealed from both the sudden destroyed glass pitcher and the front door slamming open.
Halsey turned her head, noting that there were four robed figures coming into the house with wands in their hands. They were dressed in crimson warrior like robes, along with skintight pants and thigh high boots that stuck to them like glue. Two of them were women while the other two happened to be men, and they were surveying the house, but paused when they saw the family was in the kitchen. They were yelling things Halsey couldn't understand, something about a Ministry and being Aurors that had been told of the child abuse by some of case workers in the Ministry of Magical Children Care and Services.
As they came towards the open doorway of the kitchen, Halsey slowly stepped backwards from the table, the glass and orange juice underneath her was slippery. She flinched as she could feel some of the glass shards embed themselves into the soles of her bare feet.
"Sir! Sir! Put down the knife! We have the authority to use combat and defense spells by the Ministry! We will take you down, if necessary," one of the women Aurors screamed, her eyes narrowing at the sight of the bulging man in front of her. She motioned for Halsey to slowly come towards her.
"No! I will not! I will not let you freaks have her!"
As the Aurors were focused on Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia had gotten up from the table and acted as though she was trying to calm down her husband. No one suspected her to pull the knife that was hidden in one of the sleeves of her dress and stab Halsey in the side of her stomach.
Halsey screamed as she fell backwards and hit the ground, her worn out shirt she was wearing was blossoming with blood and the knife stuck out of her, a cruel reminder her aunt and uncle would have killed her in front of the magical law enforcement to spite them. Her hands were shaking, and she could see the blood beginning to stain even her hands. It was enough for black spots to start appearing in her sight, before darkness took over her and she passed out.
Halsey did not know how long she had been passed out but could faintly remember the feeling of being stabbed in the side by her aunt. She remembered putting her hands against her wound, which was still closed and not completely open due to the knife still wedged in her side. Her hands were crimson, bloody, and it had been enough for her to become doozy enough to fall into unconsciousness. She still couldn't guess how long she had been passed out, nonetheless, because time was irrelevant when you weren't even aware of your conscious state.
So, when she did wake up, the first thing that surprised her was the ability to see everything clearly around her. The clunky, rounded wire framed glasses that once belonged to her late father, James Potter, were not nestled upon her nose. She could miraculously see without them and instead of feeling marvel she felt betrayal. Did someone do this to her, did someone bring her good sight without even having the courtesy of asking permission?
The second thing she noticed was she was in a hospital, but it wasn't one she was accustomed to.
Then again, she wasn't someone who was allowed to go to the hospital because of the extensive injuries her aunt and uncle had given her. They would be questioned, and she would be questioned but she would say she fell, or she did it to herself and they would have to let her go back to that cupboard under the stairs because all they had was her word claiming it didn't happen.
There were little balls of light that were traveling in the air around her, almost in a soothing manner. It reminded her of fireflies that would be drifting through a grass field. They made her feel more relaxed, and she peered up at them for a moment or two before she looked beyond that and noticed there were children's friendly pictures on the walls, with actual cartoon animals moving around and acting like real animals instead of painted ones.
Her heart raced in her chest, and she closed her eyes, trying to imagine she wasn't here.
She wrapped her arms around herself only to gasp when she could feel bandaging that was around her waist. She opened her eyes and went to pull at the hospital gown she was wearing to see the wound, only for there to be light knocking on the doorframe of the hospital room.
"Miss Potter, may I come in?"
The woman that Halsey could see was beautiful.
She reminded her of a motherly queen, one who would shelter and love her children even if they were born from another woman instead of her. She had this enchanting aura around her, her vivid blue eyes had a tinge of purple in them, and all she wanted to do was fall into the rabbit hole of them and explore their depths.
The woman had warm sun kissed skin, a healthy tan hue.
Her dark brown hair fell in soft waves around her and stopped a little after her breasts. A long and skinny nose, plump and small lips, and nicely shaped eyebrows, she was everything that Aunt Petunia wasn't. It didn't help that the woman wasn't wearing makeup at all, and still looked as stunning as she did.
She was wearing a lime green form fitting robe dress with an embroidered patch on the right side of her chest. As she came closer with a floating clipboard and floating quill, Halsey noted what the words on her robes said: ADELINE NOTT: HEAD HEALER OF ST. MUNGO'S CHILDREN'S WING. Children's Wing, of course she was in the Children's Wing, but she hadn't expected the head of the wing to come and see her.
Curling backwards against her pillows, Halsey pulled some of the blankets back over her in order to almost burrow herself away from everything and everyone. Healer Nott had a conflicted look on her face but when she stopped at the end of the bed and showed she had nothing on her that could hurt her, Halsey slowly loosened up.
"Miss Potter, it says here that your full name is Halsey Dorea Potter. You were born on July 1st, 1980, in Godric's Hollow. You are the daughter of James and Lily Potter. You were in the custody of your Muggle–"
"What's Muggle?"
Healer Nott let her eyes flicker away from the clipboard that was in her hands now, humming a little bit, before she slowly sat down at the end of Hasley's hospital bed. "Muggle, my darling, is what witches and wizards call those who do not have magic."
The glowing orbs of light above them dimmed quite a bit, as Halsey shook her head, before crying out, "don't say that word! It's a bad word! Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon are going to hear you say that and they will hurt me for talking to you."
"Miss Potter–"
"It's Halsey, not Miss Potter. I'm nine. I'm not a little girl who doesn't know her name. Call me Halsey. Please."
"Of course, Halsey. You don't have to worry about your aunt and uncle or cousin again. You have been taken out of their custody, and they are not your guardians anymore. You have been placed in the M. M.C.C.S. Ministry of Magical Children Care Services. We are going to find you a wonderful and loving new home. You can learn to become…like me. You won't get in trouble for being able to do what they could not do. I promise you; everything will be okay."
Things, sadly, were not okay, nor was it going to be easy to find Halsey Potter a new home.
She was lucky in the regards of no one being allowed in the hospital room she was staying in for the first few days except for Healers. They slowly but surely began to inform her about the wonders of magic, and issued the use of Calming Droughts once a day so that her nerves would calm down. She even was introduced to a Mind Healer, but she hadn't wanted to talk to the man yet. He was nice, she knew he was, but she needed to try and deal with one thing at a time before unloading all her trauma onto the man who knew nothing about what it would be like living with Aunt Petunia and Vernon Dursley.
She was about to take her afternoon nap when the door to the room was slung open and she turned her head. A tall, white haired wizard with hair that fell down to his waist in a heavy, and wavy manner. He had on half moon glasses at the tip of his nose, wore bright and quite distracting robes (which were also giving her a slight headache at the sight of them) and a beard that was almost as long as his hair was. It was tied together at the end with a lavender hair band.
"Ah! Miss Potter! It is good to see you, my dear girl. I am an old friend of your parents. My name is Albus Dumbledore, and you may call me Albus or Dumbledore if you wish. I must apologize for the way that I have introduced myself, bargaining in so suddenly. May I sit and speak with you for a moment?"
Halsey began to play with the quilt sitting on her bed, a quilt that had been made for her by the widows that helped quilt blankets and other sorts of things for patients. She nodded her head a moment later, even though she did not care for his light and airy aura or how he was invested in her without really getting to know the low down of things when it came to her.
"Now, as I was saying before. I am an old friend of your parents. I was and still am the headmaster of the school they attended for witches and wizards. Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Our motto is: Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus. "Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon", quite a motto, isn't it? Can't help but wonder how they came up with that one."
Dumbledore chuckled some after he said that, having expected to loosen up Halsey with the little quirky fact. She stayed where she was, not really knowing how to feel about him trying to warm her up by saying he was the headmaster of the school her parents went to when she was their age. She didn't see what this had to do with her, she wasn't attending Hogwarts.
"I must admit, my dear girl, that I am the one who left you in the care of your aunt and uncle after the tragedy which befell itself on your parents. I thought that you were safer with them, but it turns out that I was wrong. I am sorry for that, my dear. I did not nor do wish ill upon you. Your parents must be upset with me from the beyond…I only hope that you can allow me to help you settle into a new family, one that deserves and cherishes you."
"I…I don't know…"
"I'll go get them; they are waiting outside. I am very certain that you will be wanting to be with them as soon as you are ready to be released. No need for you to hop from place to place. I've got it all figured out for you."
Halsey opened her mouth, not knowing what to say, when the door opened, and the gray-white haired wizard left. The door opened a moment later and Healer Nott came into the room, confusion apparent from her too at the sight of the headmaster bounding out of the room like a man on a mission. She didn't like seeing that kind of look on his face, it only meant she was about to deal with the complications that came from his solution.
Healer Nott came over to her and picked up the cup of Calming Drought for her, wordlessly handing it to Halsey. Halsey drank the cup, even though it tasted nasty, she did feel better after she would take it. She had a feeling she would have needed it, with Dumbledore bringing a family here to see her before she would get the chance to try and find a family herself.
The door opened and Healer Nott gasped at the sight of the nine-membered family that was cramming themselves into the room. She didn't have to even be told their names, for they were The Weasleys. The red haired family that always found themselves in and out of St. Mungo's due to a pair of boy twins that couldn't stop pranking the rest of their siblings.
Halsey barely was able to process the sight before her, before a large and plump woman came rushing forward with a huge smile on her face. Her brown eyes were warm and comforting. She was dressed in a quilted dress that had all different colored and patterned patches sewn together. Her hair was a wild mess on her head, more like a mane of fire orange hair.
"Oh! Halsey, you look just like your mum! A splitting image of Lily, doesn't she, Arthur?" the woman cried as she turned her head towards a man that was tall and thin, knobby with a reclining hairline (and red hair too…in fact all the family members had red hair) and glasses that kept slipping up and down his nose while he tried to wrestle with two boys that looked like twins.
"Quite right you are, dear. Go ahead and introduce us. I'm having to deal with these two sneaking some of their inventions into the place," Arthur explained, earning an eye roll from the woman before she made sure to pay only attention to Halsey again.
"My name is Molly Weasley, that's my husband Arthur. We were best friends with your parents, Halsey. These are our children…. excuse me dear…"
Molly Weasley turned around and whistled, causing all the children to straighten up. "Straight and orderly line, please. Or you won't be getting any pudding tonight, understand? Youngest to Oldest."
Halsey watched, enraptured as the seven children of Molly and Arthur Weasley put themselves into a single line. She noted in the corner of her eye that Healer Nott was not amused with having all these people in the room at the same time. Halsey reached out and squeezed the woman's wrist, which in return made her let a little smile curve upwards at the subtle reassurance she got from the child.
"My youngest, Ginevra, "Ginny" for short. She's the first daughter we've had in our family in centuries not married but born. She's a year younger than you."
Ginny Weasley glanced up at Halsey before she blushed, her many freckles lighting up with red, as she shuffled her feet awkwardly. She obviously wasn't someone who was used to being the center of attention, or at least didn't like being out in public. She had on a large shirt that looked to have originally been an older sibling's shirt, along with some denim shorts and some sandals. She was sunburnt, as were all the other pale and freckled children.
"My youngest son, Ronald, "Ron" for short. He's your age. He's always the poor chosen subject when it comes to the twins' experimentations," Molly commented as she motioned for the boy that was next to Ginny. He was tall for his age, all elbows and knees and he was glaring at the two boys that were next to him…the twins.
"Then there's the twins, George and Fred. They were born on a date that is appropriate for them, the 1st of April. They want to open up a joke shop one day, and have already gotten in loads of trouble already in their first year at Hogwarts."
"But Mum-"
"It's Professor Snape-"
"He has it out–"
"For us."
"None of that, boys. One more time I hear about you being served detention and I will come up there myself, do you understand me?" Molly hissed, her short stature didn't even stop her from being intimidating enough for the twins to sigh and nod their heads. They were wearing shirts that had their first name initials on it, though knowing them they were wearing each other's shirt so they could cause more mayhem and annoy everyone around them.
"Then there's Percy, he's a Third Year student. Top of his class, we are very proud of him."
Percy Weasley didn't seem as though he liked being here. He was wearing horned framed glasses, and was seeming to be reciting something under his breath. He most likely was trying to remember what it was that he was studying for. He wasn't even paying attention to her.
"Next we have Charlie. He's a Sixth Year. He says that he wants to go to Romania and help take care of dragons! Can you believe that? I'll still have some time yet to have him stay here with us," Molly vowed to the handsome teenager that was standing there and had his hands stuffed into his pockets. He shot Halsey a wink, causing her to blush.
"Last but not least, we have Bill. He finished Hogwarts last year. He works at Gringotts Wizarding Bank, as their Curse-Breaker. He's very busy but I insisted that he should come here to meet you, since you'll basically be his newest sister."
"Hmm…hmmm."
Everyone turned their heads towards the tall woman that came gliding into the room with very high heeled boots and dressed in a suit dress. She glanced at all the children and then to Molly and Arthur Weasley, giving them a bright and white smile. She reminded Halsey of a shark that was looking for its next victim. She softened her features at Halsey when she saw her but they hardened once again when she looked at everyone in the room.
"Ah, am I forgetting that you are to come to me first and ask to help foster Miss Potter, and on a later date you may adopt if things go well? Or is someone going over me and deciding they are the better Head of the Magical Children Care and Services? Last time I checked, this person who thinks they have my job is instead the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…"
Dumbledore chuckled some, in good nature as he stood up from where he had peacefully been sitting, and came over to where the woman was. "Of course not, Mrs. Waterstone. I am not undermining you. I merely thought that it would be wonderful for Halsey to meet the Weasleys, since they will most likely be the ones who will adopt her."
Mrs. Waterstone narrowed her nicely done eyeshadow and mascara lined eyes at him, their cool green color reminding everyone of frost that covered leaves. She was impeccable both with the timing of her arrival and with the state of her whole appearance.
"Then you will have no problem taking them back to the lobby, don't you, Headmaster. I wish to speak to Miss Potter and Healer Nott in private. Patient Confidentiality," Mrs. Waterstone said, before Dumbledore nodded his head, said his goodbye, and walked out along with the Weasleys. Mrs. Waterstone went over to the door and shut it before she turned around and smiled at the girl. She came over and sat down in a chair she pulled over.
As she calmly introduced herself to Halsey, Mrs. Waterstone vowed to Mother Magic, Morgana, herself that she would find a worthy home for Halsey Potter.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Halsey ends up trying out different families (background) before trying out the Notts and deciding to become one of them.
All the Slytherins are good in this fanfiction but are misunderstood and have to keep themselves on guard cause of the Gryffindors.
as always: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me.
remember that this is DIARY TOM RIDDLE JR. X HALSEY POTTER X VOLDEMORT (BASICALLY THE DIARY ONCE HE GETS HIS FORM BACK)
-it'semmynotemma
