Maryam Lily Potter was a young girl living with her aunt and uncle, two very ordinary and well-respected people, and their son Dudley.
They would have been a perfect family if it wasn't for the young Maryam. She was not ordinary, she was strange and just a heap of trouble. The little raven-haired girl was a burden on the otherwise respected Dursley family. This was something Petunia was not shy to tell the neighbors.
The neighbors had never heard the girl speak, she was always quiet and stared. Knowing how much trouble she was most of them stayed far away from her and looked carefully when she walked past so that she didn't break or steal anything.
The Dursleys were of course too nice people to send her to an orphanage where she belonged, hoping that they could raise this delinquent to a respected member of society.
Some neighbors wondered if this was good for little Doudley who had grown rather large, probably stress eating having to live with such a troubled cousin. The only one who would babysit for the vile girl was the batty Miss Figg.
It had been very strange around the house recently, some neighbors had seen a bunch of owls sitting around their house and someone had sworn that they had seen owls carrying letters.
A week later the family had taken a vacation, they had all packed the car and drove off for a few days.
On the cold floor in a shack out on a rock in the water the small raven-haired girl was shivering, it was storming outside, Close to midnight and it was soon to be her 11 birthday. Not that it would be celebrated, her classmates had sung Happy Birthday a couple of times but it was on the order of the teachers. Her classmates did not like her, she was quiet and weird and if you got too close to being friendly her cousin would put a stop to that.
Sometimes she wished that she had gone with her parents, at least then she would not have been a burden to her aunt and uncle and she wouldn't have to feel like such a freak. These letters that had arrived had put her in so much trouble, she was curious who they were from but she wished they would leave her alone, she didn't want her aunt and uncle even angrier, anger meant punishments.
A great BOOM shook her from her thoughts.
'What was that?' She thought to herself, is the shack breaking apart? Her cousin Dudley asked about a canon from the sofa as he was sleeping on
BOOM
There it was again, it sounded a third time and the biggest man Maryam had ever seen walked in.
Then the madness had started for real, her uncle had come running in with a rifle and the giant man had easily bent it.
Seeing her family shivering in fear was strange, it was usually she who did.
It was even weirder how the giant man asked for a cup of tea as he was an invited guest ignoring Uncle Vernon's demands that he leave.
"And here is little Maryam, well not so little, happy 11th birthday. Yeh were so small the last time I saw yeh" The giant said and smiled towards her.
The giant man knew her, knew it was her birthday? His comment about her being little was fair, she was small for her age and he was so big.
"Got summat fer yeh here, I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right." The man took out a slightly squashed box and handed it to Maryam, who took it and looked at him, she bowed her head in thanks.
"What the matter, cat got yeh tounge?" He asked, strangely it looked like he was still smiling.
Maryam opened her mouth slightly, pointed to it, and shook her head. The giant looked confused. She mimed speaking with her mouth and then shook her head.
"Are yeh saying yeh can't speak." He asked sounding puzzled.
Maryam shook her head and looked down.
The giant rounded on the Dursleys
"She can't speak!?"
Uncle Vernon answered shakily "No, she never speaks, something wrong with her."
"I never expected this, Dumbledore said it could be a trouble getting a hold of you but this."
Maryam shrunk in on herself, the man had looked excited to see her and now he was disappointed like everyone else, he would soon call her a freak.
"First thing is first, it is time that you get your letter."
He fished up a letter from his coat, it was addressed to her but this time on the floor in the shack instead of the cupboard under the stairs.
"I forbid you!" Uncle Vernon yelled and Maryam dropped the letter and looked at him, she had to listen.
"What are you doing Maryam? it is your letter to read, and you Dursley!" The giant man chased the Dursleys to the other room in the shack and easily moved a table to block the door.
"Now, read your letter," he said beaming at her.
Maryam hesitated for a moment before she did as she was told.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Miss Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later
than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
'Witchcraft? Wizardy? Warlock? And what is a Supreme Mugwump!?' Maryam wondered as she read, this could not be real. A school for magic?
"What is the matter? I thought you would be happy to go to your parent's old school." The giant man said.
Her parent's old school? Did they go to a magic school? They died in a car crash after driving drunk, it sounded like a very unwizard way to go. Thinking more on it some things came back to her, how she ended up on the school roof or suddenly growing back her hair.. was that magic?
Maryam held up the letter to the man and pointed at the word witch and then herself.
"Yeh are a witch, just like your parents." The man looked at her and it looked like he was getting angry, Maryam took a couple of steps back.
"Are yeh telling me that you didn't know this?" He said angrily.
Maryam quickly shook her head but did not meet the man's eyes.
"Dursley! I was not supposed to tell yeh all this, yeh were supposed to know it already.
The man whose name was Hagrid told her about what happened to her parents and that she was well known in the wizard world, he had also sent a letter with an owl.
This had explained to her what the letter meant when said they awaited her owl. For the rest it was hard to grasp, she had survived an attacker that murdered her parents at the ripe old age of 1.
Hagrid would take her magic shopping in the morning, that sounded very exciting, the problem was that her aunt and uncle would not agree nor pay for this, she had no idea how she would square this circle but right now she was having sausages waved in front of her, and her stomach made itself known, she had not eaten in a long time and then not very much, after some hesitation, she took the sausage and ate it.
She was given two more sausages before Hagrid thought it was time to sleep.
Hagrid took the sofa and Maryam laid back on the floor, she started to shiver before she felt a weight on top of her, Hagrid had put his cloak over her to keep her warm, she would not forget his friendly gesture.
The next morning they made their way to London, more than a few people stared at Hagrid as he was so big. They got to a pub called "The Leaky Cauldron" and Maryam noticed that people didn't seem to see it. The inside wasn't very impressive especially not as it was supposed to be very famous.
Hagrid struck up a conversation with the barman Tom and he mentioned her name the pub suddenly got quiet, and everyone wanted a look and a handshake from her.
She wasn't comfortable with this but tried to smile politely, Hagrid soon got her away from the crowd.
They got out back to the courtyard, and all Maryam could see was a wall, she looked questioningly at Hagrid as he counted the bricks, he then tapped one with his umbrella and the wall opened up to a street.
Maryam not having friends and not being able to speak had two things she did often, read and observe, here she did the second. This street was like none she had ever seen before, firstly the people around were dressed like wizards she guessed, but everywhere they sold the most peculiar things, everything from frogspawn to dragons livers and even racing brooms.
The first place they had to go where the bank, Gringotts. Hagrid explained that it was operated by goblins something Maryam found very interesting.
They got in line and soon enough Hagrid was showing off a key and a letter to the teller, the first was to her vault and the second sounded secret.
The way to the vault was something that looked like a minecart. She had never been on a roller coaster before but she thought this was like one and to her surprise she enjoyed the ride greatly.
When they finally came to her vault she was in for a chock, her parents had been wealthy which meant she was.
'Now I don't have to worry about paying for my school things, I wonder if I could afford my own place.' She thought to herself, but she also knew that an 11-year-old was not allowed to buy or live alone in a home. She could dream.
She picked up some gold and put it in a small sack, she also added some of the smaller coins to have change.
Hagrid smiled at her when she came up to him with her money, he did pale a bit when he looked at the cart and asked for a slower ride, but he did not get his wish. They traveled to a different vault and picked up Hagrid's secret package that just looked like a little envelope, when she tried to look closer Hagrid quickly hid it and told her
"Sorry, Hogwarts business."
A ride later a green Hagrid asked if she minded going to buy her robes herself while he got himself a 'pick me up' after the terrible cart ride. Maryam smiled and nodded but her smile vanished as soon as he turned his back. She should not have too much trouble getting what she needed but it was easier if you had somebody who spoke with you.
She walked over to 'Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions' and was soon greeted by who she guessed was Madam Malkin, she asked if she was there for Hogwarts robes and Maryam nodded, Madam Malkin just smiled at her and showed her to a stool where she was told to stand, next to her a blonde boy with a narrow face stood already getting fitted.
"Hellu, Hogwarts too?" He asked in a lazy drawl.
She nodded at him
"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the
street looking at wands," said the boy seemingly not noticing or caring that she didn't speak up.
"Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I
don't see why first-years can't have their own. I think I'll bully
Father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."
He sounded very spoiled and honestly not too pleasant but Maryam knew that first impression wasn't everything.
"Do you have a broom,?" The boy asked, she just shook her head.
"Do you play Quidditch?" He asked and Maryam shook her head again, she did not know what Quidditch was but was rather sure she had not played it.
'I do, father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my
house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"
She shook her head again.
"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I
know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been, imagine being
in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"
She shrugged, she did not know anything about houses so she could not really give an opinion, but from this boy the house Slytherin sounded less appealing to her.
"All done," the assistant who was taking his measurements said, he jumped off the stool and walked out.
"Guess I see you at Hogwarts."
She waved him goodbye.
"Nothing wrong with Hufflepuff" the assistant said when the boy was gone.
"Hardworking and loyal, it is a fine house, I am.. was one myself."
Maryam looked at the direction the boy had gone and smiled at the assistant hoping it would give her the right impression. She took Maryam's measurements and small-talked, seemingly not bothered by the silent replies.
The rest of the shopping did go well, she even got a present from Hagrid, a beautiful white owl, Maryam was overwhelmed, she did not get presents and now she was entrusted with an owl. Owls did carry letters, so she could write all her friends, that she didn't have. With a new school and no Dudley maybe things would be different, she at least hoped the owl would like her.
The last stop was Olliwander, he was a very eccentric figure, he had recognized her at once and told her about her parent's wands. He told her that the wand chose the wizard, something that scared her when she was 5 wands in and none of them seemed to choose her, Olliwander on the other hand looked like he had very fun with a "tricky customer".
At long last the right wand was hers and she could feel it, it felt like an extension of her arm. Something that did not feel right was that this wand was the brother of the wand that killed her parents, she did not like being linked to that monster.
After some food, Hagrid had taken her home. The last month had been different, she had a room instead of the cupboard under the stairs and her family did not speak with her at all, they were disappointed and angry at her. She tried to do more chores to keep them happy but nothing helped. She was still just a burden.
She at least had a lot of time to read and did go through a lot of her school books, it was interesting she just hoped she could do it in practice, it looked like most spells were verbal, and that could be an issue.
A few days before her train ride to Hogwarts, Maryam showed her uncle the ticket.
"You want me to drive you?" He asked
She nodded her head.
"We are not a charity and petrol ain't free, if you want a ride you need to earn it"
Maryam had chores that kept her busy for the last few days and she went to bed exhausted each day.
The day finally came and she got her ride to King's Cross where she was supposed to find platform 9¾. Her uncle laughed about it as he left her alone at the station, she took the trolly with her things and looked around platforms 9 and 10 trying to find where to go.
When she almost lost hope her ears pricked up when she heard the word "Muggles". She looked for who had said it and found a redheaded woman surrounded by kids that had to be hers having the same red hair, they so had a lot of baggage and an owl, they had to be wizards so she followed them.
Thanks to the crowd she missed what the boys did to get to their platform, so she took a few steps closer and saw how the smallest in the family, a redheaded little girl looked at her.
"Hi," She said brightly.
Maryam waved uncertainty.
Apparently the the mother had heard the girl's hello and turned around and looked at her and then at Maryam, she smiled kindly.
"Hello dear, are you lost?"
Maryam nodded.
"Are your mom and dad nearby?"
Maryam shook her head.
The mother looked at her and then saw the trolly. "Are you going to Hogwarts?"
Maryam nodded.
"Your parents should be here, you are way too young to be here yourself, do you need help to find your way to the platform?
Maryam nodded her head eagerly.
The mother explained what to do, you only needed to run straight towards the very solid-looking wall and you get there, also don't be afraid. No problem, Maryam ran straight through walls all the time!
To her surprise it worked and an amazing but old-looking train was waiting there for her, she tried to find an empty compartment and found one close to the end, now she only needed to lift in her trunk, this showed to be an issue as she could barely lift it and even less carry it on.
"You need any help?" A redheaded boy a couple of years older asked, she recognized him as one of the mother's sons.
She nodded and the boy yelled for another boy named Fred, who happened to look just like the first one, twins. They carried up the trunk to the train and helped her get it into the compartment.
"All done," one of the twins said.
Maryam bowed her head to show her thanks and both boys suddenly stared at her forehead.
"Blimey is that what I think it is?" Said one twin
"I think it is."
"Are you Maryam Potter?"
Maryam was a little startled at how quickly she got recognized but nodded at the twins.
She got saved from more awkwardness by the boys' mother yelling for them.
Maryam sat at the window looking out and could not help overhearing the family, after some talk and slight banter she came up in the conversation.
"Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train? The dark-haired girl"
"Who?"
"Maryam Potter"
"Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see her, Mum, oh please?" The girl asked and Maryam just wanted to disappear.
"You've already seen her Ginny, and the poor girl isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is she really, Fred? How do you know?"
"Asked her. Saw her scar. It's really there – like lightning."
"Poor dear, she was all alone and so shy, I don't think she said a word."
"Curious that, she didn't to us either," said one twin
"Never mind that, do you think she remembers what you-know-who looks like."
"I forbid you to ask her, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though she
needs reminding of that on her first day at school."
Maryam put her head in her hand, was she so famous for having an attempt on her life, losing her patents? She would rather been famous for being a great singer or maybe an author would be more possible for her.
She watched the family some more, even with their bickering they seemed like a lovely family, none of them was a waste of space or a burden.
Maryam took up one of her school books 'Hogwarts: A History' she had read some of it but thought she should try to read more so she would be prepared.
After a while, she heard a knock and looked up to see the youngest boy from the redheaded family.
"Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else of full"
Maryam nodded and made an open hand gesture to the seat opposite her.
The boy dragged in his turnk and sat down, he looked at her almost staring, and then looked out the window, a little odd but she remembered what his twin brothers had told the family. The door slid open and there stood set twins.
"Hey, Ron."
"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train, Lee Jordan
got a giant tarantula down there."
"Right," mumbled Ron.
"Maryam," said the other twin, 'did we introduce ourselves? Fred
and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later,
then."
"Bye," said Ron. The twins slid the compartment door
shut behind them.
"Are you really Maryam Potter?" Ron blurted out.
Maryam nodded.
"Oh, well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's
jokes," said Ron. "
And have you really got – you know …"
He pointed at Maryam's forehead.
Maryam pulled back his fringe to show the lightning scar.
"Is it there you-know-who?"
Maryam nodded.
"Whoa."
It quickly became silent after this and both looked out the window.
"I heard you went to live with muggles, it that true?" Ron asked and Maryam nodded her head in response.
"You don't talk very much do you?" Ron asked and Maryam shook her head.
"Why not?"
Maryam opened her trunk, took up a quill and a notebook, and quickly wrote 'I can't' and showed it to Ron. He looked a bit dumbfounded and asked.
"Wait you mean you can't speak?"
Maryam shook her head and felt ashamed, she had disappointed this boy Ron, and now he would not want to be her friend.
Ron was quiet for a moment. "Has it always been like that?" He asked and got a head nod in response.
"I am sorry to hear that, but I can do the talking for both of us, just use the notebook when you want to say something."
Maryam wrote again in her notebook 'You don't mind?'
"Nah, it is not your fault you can't talk, and after living with my little sister that never stops talking..." he tailed off and looked a bit worried.
"I didn't mean to.." he trailed off once again when Maryam held up a finger.
She wrote 'You did not hurt my feelings, don't worry I won't talk your ear off, I prefer listening. Please tell me more about your family'
Ron looked relieved and then started to tell her about his family, it was bigger than she had seen. Apparently, his brothers were all rather successful and he was under a lot of pressure to live up to them. Maryam could relate, she wasn't and could never be as good as Dudley, she hoped that she would be enough when she got to Hogwarts, she would never be enough for her family but maybe school was different, the fact that she was famous made her doubt that.
A while later the trolly lady knocked and asked if they wanted anything, being hungry and curious Maryam got a bit of everything. She soon learned about the roulette that was Bertie Botts every flavored beans, but thought she came ahead with cream, bark, fudge, and tomato soup flavored ones.
She was also delighted about the chocolate frogs, them coming with famous wizards with small trivia did them so much better. She got Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts and he was very successful according to his card. What she didn't expect was that the card moved and suddenly Dumbledore was no longer there just an empty frame.
After some snacking their compartment had gone quiet, so Maryam wrote a small in her notebook. 'What is Quid dish?'
Ron read and laughed "You mean Quidditch? That is just the best sport that exists!"
Ron explained the rules and talked about his favorite team Chudley Canons. Maryam tried to get her head around it, they had strikers and a goalkeeper just like muggle football even if they called the strikers chasers instead, but beaters who tried to knock opponents off their brooms and a seeker whose job was to catch a tiny golden ball? That was strange to her.
There was a knock on the door and a sad round-faced boy looked in and asked if they had seen his toad. Ron told him that they hadn't and the boy left.
After the boy was gone he wondered why the boy even wanted a toad but then showed his own pet, a fat rat named Scabbers. Maryam was rather happy with her owl but would not really want a toad or a rat.
"He is boring he just sleeps, you wouldn't even notice if he died. Fred gave me a spell to make him yellow, let's try it.
This piqued Maryam's interest, she wanted to see more magic in action.
Just as Ron had his wand up, it looked very worn, the compartment door slid open and a girl with slightly large front teeth and very bushy hair looked in.
"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," the girl said in a rather bossy tone.
"We already told him, we haven't seen a toad," Ron said sounding impatient.
The girl didn't seem to listen as she saw Ron's wand, she sat down next to Maryam and looked intently at Ron.
"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She said and Ron looked a bit taken aback by it.
"Okay," Ron said and swallowed "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,
Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." He pointed his wand at his Rat and nothing happened.
"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very
good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's
all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever
such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of
course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've
heard. I've learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just
hope it will be enough, I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who
are you?" She was a very fast talker, Maryam had read in her books but not memorized them but from Ron's look she doubted he had either.
"I am Ron Weasley" Ron muttered. "And this is Maryam."
"Maryam? Like Maryam Potter?" Hermione asked
Maryam nodded her head, the girl went on about how she had read about her in a few different books. The fact that she was mentioned in several books was a bit distressing. She asked if they knew what house they would be in, Hermione did prefer Gryffindor but said Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad. She took her leave to help Neville find his toad telling them to change into their robes.
When the girl was gone Maryam giggled soundlessly and Ron asked what was so funny. Maryam took her notebook and wrote.
"She never realized that I didn't speak, except for Hagrid who took me shopping nobody except you have taken note of that."
"Well, it is hard not to if we are sitting in the same compartment, mom just thought you were shy," Ron said
Maryam wrote down 'I am' and showed Ron.
"Well maybe, are you going to be quiet about this and see how long it takes for people to figure out?" Ron asked and Maryam answered with a wink.
"Just promise me not to turn out like the twins, they can be trouble enough."
The new friends laughed and talked for the rest of the trip, at one point Ron told Maryam about an attempted robbery at Gringotts, when she heard the date she got very curious as it was the same day as she and Hagrid were there, was this a coincidence?
When the train arrived they were told to Maryam's relief that they were to leave the luggage, she had not looked forward to dragging it around.
At the station she saw Hagrid who was yelling for the first years to follow him, he smiled and waved to her and she did the same.
The next hour was something Maryam thought she would never forget, first, they got to ride on small boats over the lake, her first look at Hogwarts was well, magical! When they made it to the castle Hagrid found the sad boy's toad which made him much happier.
They meet the deputy Headmistress who seemed to be a very stern woman, she told them about the houses and point system and took them to the great hall to be sorted, not before some ghosts appeared and sacred most of the firsties.
The great hall lived up to its name, Maryam tried to drink it all in but when she saw that the whole school was there and staring at her and the other first years she got more than a bit nervous.
She wondered how the sorting would be done when an old hat began to sing, she thought to herself. 'We are being sorted by a sentient singing hat, that is normal, of course, it is normal.'
The sorting then started, it was interesting how some students got sorted after a few seconds and others took a few minutes suddenly she heard.
"Potter Maryam"
The room got all quiet, she looked at the tables with students and they were all staring at her as she walked up to the hat, some even standing up trying to get a better look, it was a small relief when she put on the hat and it covered her eyes.
'Well, well what do we have here?'
She could hear the voice of the hat.. in her head.
'It does not look like you speak much' she heard.
'How?' She thought and the hat answered.
'It is all here in your head!'
'Can you hear me?' she thought
'I do'
She hesitated
'Nobody has ever heard me before'
'I can see it has been hard for you. So where should I put you? You have bravery just like your parents, a good mind, and a will to prove yourself enough. You would have a good time in Hufflepuff, hardworking and loyal, they would not look down at your inability to speak.'
'That doesn't sound bad to me'
'It would be the most comfortable place for you but would it be the right? Slytherin could bring out a lot from you'
'I don't think I want to go there.'
'As you wish, then I know exactly where you go.'
Then the hat suddenly yelled out
"It better be..."
Chapter 1 here we go.
I was struggling with the name as Lily's family uses flowers for the girls' names, so it was between Maryam and Primrose.
So to what house will she go?
I love reviews even if they call me dumb so review if you like, have a good time, and thanks for reading.