Prologue: The Heiress

A silver tabby cat was sitting at the top of the fence of an old orphanage, with the rain running down her fur, without getting her wet. Her gaze fixed on the window of the highest room on the old building. From there, a girl with pale skin and hair so blond that it seemed white, looked at her as well.

The cat jumped down from the fence, almost gracefully, and a tall, slim woman landed in a puddle of water, wearing a star-studded green dress and square spectacles that clung to her temples. She also wore a pointed hat cocked to one side. No doubt, that was a witch.

Minerva McGonagall looked up once more and smiled at the girl who saw her transform from the window. The girl smiled back at her. The witch walked to the door and knocked lightly seven times. After an intense commotion, a tall, thin, pale-skinned woman opened the door, she carried an old wooden pipe in the hand that did not hold the door. She smiled.

"Minerva!" The woman exclaimed when she saw the witch. "Come in, I was waiting for you."

The witch calmly walked in and took a look at the orphanage. From the outside, it looked like an old and dilapidated place, but as soon as you walked through the front door you found yourself in a huge and elegant place, with white columns that supported the ceiling and marble stairs that moved to take you to different floors and sections of the building. Of course, if a muggle walked in, they would see an ordinary building, with some leaks and foggy windows. McGonagall was surprised. But, despite the elegance of the place, Minerva could feel how the inside was colder than the outside.

"You've improved your orphanage, Alma," she said. "It's only been three months since I came here and you've already installed the stairs. "

Miss Peregrine strode gracefully down the hall to her office door, smoked her pipe, blew the smoke up, and turned to see McGonagall "My children deserve the best, Minerva," she said with a huge smile on her crimson lips. Come on in, I have everything you asked for."

McGonagall followed Peregrine through the office's door into a huge, elegant office, almost like the lobby. There were marble figures shaped like hawks in the corners of the office with obsidian eyes that seemed to follow you as you walked in. A huge filing cabinet with dozens of folders was open.

"Have a seat," said Peregrine as she did the same.

McGonagall did so and was able to see his old friend in more detail. With each passing year she seemed to look younger and younger, on the contrary, for her, who was finding it harder and harder to walk at a fast pace, she supposed it was because of the particular species to which Alma belonged. She shook those old age thoughts out of her head and concentrated on what she had gone to the orphanage.

"How is she going?" Minerva asked.

"Well," Peregrine began, "the other children have realized that her powers are greater than theirs," she took a long inhale from her pipe, "and that scares them." She blew out the smoke slowly. "Some others tried to take advantage of it and provoked her to expel them at once. That was almost three weeks ago. The ministry gave me a wake-up call due to the series of incidents that have occurred. I tried to talk to her to make her understand that she shouldn't indulge in provocations, but she has serious trouble controlling her impulses once they bother her".

"What do you mean? Has she hurt someone?"

"She petrified a few… No, frozen would be the most appropriate word." McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "You may have noticed that this place is nowhere near to being a freezer." McGonagall nodded. "Well, it's for her. She has a certain fascination for ice. Six days ago, Tommy Miller almost broke her favorite stuffed animal and she attacked him. Tommy was on the verge of hypothermia".

"For Merlin's beard".

"Fortunately I have a very good nurse, almost on the level of Madame Pomfrey; and Tommy suffered nothing but a slight flu. Both received their respective reprimand, but since then she has not left her room, except to eat. And every day that passes the orphanage gets colder".

McGonagall had no words in her mouth. She knew that for months they had been looking for a young wizard or witch with great power, but this was already becoming something more serious.

"Whatever", Alma continued, rising from her seat and addressing the cabinet, "I've already got everything you asked for". She handed a leather folder to McGonagall as she sat back down.

McGonagall went through all the documents very carefully, her name, country of origin, family, the car accident seven months ago. Everything fitted, the ministry of magic had entrusted her and Lumen with the mission of finding a girl with those characteristics, it was a couple of months of searching, but they could finally save her. She snapped the folder shut. "I want to talk with her," she said.

"Okay." Alma Peregrine took a long drag on her pipe, and slowly blew the smoke upward as she got up and headed for the door. McGonagall followed her. "She has been waiting for you for weeks. Actually, she packed all her stuff the same day you came to see her.

McGonagall smiled upon hearing that. She followed Alma through the lobby and up the stairs, as they climbed she could feel the temperature decrease more and more. At a certain point, she could saw the mist on her breath.

"Have you noticed it already?" Alma asked with a sly smile. "I have even had to put heat spells in the rooms closest to hers, the other children could not tolerate such low temperatures".

McGonagall was shivering from how cold the place felt. Suddenly negative thoughts came to her mind. Would this happen at Hogwarts? Could the girl control her powers during her stay at school? Would it be safe? For herself, for everyone. She shook her head, trying to clear those ideas from her mind. Of course the girl would be safe, Lumen, herself, and the others would take care of that.

They reached the girl's room, the cold was almost unbearable. Peregrine tried to open the door, but it was locked; she knocked to the door delicately.

"Open up, you have a visitor," she said in a sweet tone.

A few seconds later the door was unlocked and a pretty pale skin girl opened it. The girl, although she was feeling an enormous sadness, saw McGonagall directly to the eyes with her eyes full of hope.

"Hi," she said, with a grimace that could pass for a smile and waving her hand to the witch.

McGonagall waved back. "May I come in?" She added.

The girl nodded energetically and stepped away from the door.

"I'll give you some privacy," said Miss Peregrine, and left, smoking from her pipe.

McGonagall entered the girl's room, and felt a terrible chill, the temperature was so low that it penetrated her bones and forced her to rub herself to warm herself. How could this girl endure such extreme cold? She turned to see the girl. The girl was wearing nothing but a thin navy blue, short-sleeved blouse, a knee-length tulle skirt, and ankle socks, why wasn't she freezing like her? The girl closed the door softly and ran to the opposite end of the room, toward a small trunk.

"I'm ready," she said.

McGonagall arched an eyebrow. "Ready for what?" She asked.

The girl hesitated. "To go to that place you told me, the castle, where they are going to teach me how to use my powers. Hogwarts!" The girl stepped back as if suddenly there was no ground under her feet, she leaned against the trunk, and her eyes filled with confusion and tears. "You're not taking me anywhere, are you? You're leaving me here".

McGonagall couldn't help but laugh, which made the girl look even more confused. "Calm down," she said. "Yes, I'll take you with me today. You will live with me at Hogwarts for most of the year, but for you to come as a student we'll have to wait a couple years, you are still too young".

The girl seemed to calm down, but disappointment showed a bit on her gaze. "Oh I see, " she said. "Well, I guess that as long as I live there I can wait a couple of years for you to teach me how to use my power, right?

"Of course you do, and you will learn to do much more than controlling your power."

"Like transforming into a cat, like you?"

"Well, that is much more advanced magic, but you may one day become an Animagus." If you put effort.

"Ani… what?"

"Animagus. They are those wizards and witches that can turn into an animal. It is one of the many things that you can learn in the future, such as flying on your broom, participating in duels, preparing potions of all kinds, playing Quidditch, and much more".

The girl smiled, imagining everything she would get to do over the next few years. "I'm going to love being a witch," she said.

McGonagall smiled back at her.

The room and undoubtedly the entire building were getting warmer.

A couple of nights later, back in London, McGonagall and the girl stayed for a couple of nights at the Leaky Cauldron.

It was already past midnight, so the girl was sleeping peacefully in her bed; while McGonagall had a lot of work to do. She was sitting at the desk in the corner, in the dim candlelight, going through the girl's documents for the umpteenth time; giving a thousand turns to what was approaching and fearing that Hogwarts was not enough to protect the girl.

She got down to work. She changed the girl's family history, changed her name and her family's, date of birth, nationality, the reason why she was an orphan, and everything she could as long as they couldn't find her.

There have been rumors lately about the Death Eaters resurgence; in addition to several mysterious disappearances. Just two weeks ago a muggle family with a witch daughter disappeared without a trace. Upon investigating, McGonagall and the others realized that they had very similar characteristics with the girl sleeping carefree a few feet from her. Lumen had gone down to work so he and his team could ensure the safety of all those wizards and muggles who shared even the slightest characteristics with the girl and her dead family. For the same reason, McGonagall had decided to go after the girl long before than planned. The original plan was to keep her safe at Miss Peregrine's Home until she was old enough to go to Hogwarts, but after the disappearances, she didn't know whether to trust the orphanage's safety.

She put the documents down for a moment and rubbed her temples. She never thought she would have to take care of another girl, despite not having children of her own.

A sudden knock on the door startled her, snapping her out of her thoughts. The knock was repeated more insistently. The girl shuddered in her bed but did not wake up. They have arrived, McGonagall thought and hurried to open the door before another knock woke the girl up. When she opened the door, she saw two hooded figures. One was slender and slightly shorter than McGonagall, under the hood she could see unusual pink eyes, with a gold ring around the pupil, and a strand of green and yellow hair. "Flee?" McGonagall didn't expect to see her there.

The young witch raised her hand in greeting and smiled from ear to ear. "Hello, Minerva!" As she entered the room, she removed her robe and flopped onto a sofa. "I'm really tired," she grunted.

McGonagall was very surprised to see her there that she briefly forgot about the second hooded figure until he cleared his throat. The second figure was much, much shorter than anyone, even shorter than a child, and quite plump.

"Pabbie! Excuse me. Come in, please".

"Thank you, Headmistress." The stone troll inched forward. McGonagall closed the door carefully, not before looking to both sides of the hallway making sure no one was following them.

"Thank you very much for agreeing to help us, Pabbie. It's an emergency".

"Don't worry, Minerva, I'm always willing to help Hogwarts." He looked at the sleeping girl. "It's her?

McGonagall nodded. "Yes, if it's not too much trouble..."

"Don't worry, I'll start working."

Pabbie took off his hood and approached the girl. He had to climb on a chair to reach the height of the bed, put a hand on the girl's head and spoke a few words in an unknown language. The girl growled and shuddered and a cloud full of memories sprang from her head, memories where she appeared in the company of her parents and another younger girl, her sister surely, playing in the snow. "It could take me a while," said the troll looking at McGonagall."

McGonagall nodded.

The young witch, Flee, as unworried as always, was snoring with her head hanging on the edge of the sofa, a drop of drool trickling from the corner of her lip. I can't believe she's the head of one the four great houses at Hogwarts. What was I thinking when I named Flee Hummings as the head of the Ravenclaw? Oh yeah, her father asked for it. McGonagall took the folder with the girl's documents from the desk, walked over to the witch, and slapped her with all of her strength.

The young witch staggered and nearly fell to the ground. She ended up with hair as messy as her aunt's. "What was that, Minerva!?"

McGonagall shhed at her and sat down on the couch across from her. "What are you doing here?" She asked through her clenched teeth, fighting her anger.

Flee pointed at Pabbie with both hands, glaring at McGonagall and the troll intermittently. "I… brought Pabbie?" She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "As you requested".

"I asked your fa… I asked Lumen for it".

"He was busy," Flee said, rubbing her face, which was completely red. "So he asked me to do it for him".

Minerva put the folder on the nightstand that separated her and Flee. "I can't believe it," she snorted. "What a Guardian, making me rush to find the girl and do all this mess so that Mister Busy does not do his part because he has more important things to do".

Flee arched an eyebrow. "Guardian?"

McGonagall ignored the young witch and responded with another question: "Busy doing what, exactly?"

Flee shrugged. Avoiding eye contact with the headmistress, she looked at the girl. "Are you going to make it a habit to take care of orphan girls?" She said with a smirk. You could tell she didn't want to talk about Lumen, Minerva realized this.

"I hope not like the habit you have of being disrespectful. Have I already told you that you are a disrespectful girl?"

"Just a couple times… mmm… let me do the math…" Flee pretended to count with her fingers, "About 4486 times since you took care of me when I was 8 years old".

"Well, those are not enough," she said and straightened up. "Where's Lumen?"

Flee looked uncomfortable. "I don't know, maybe doing the mysterious things that he spent his whole life doing instead of taking care of his only daughter." She took the girl's documents and flipped through them. "Wow, you've already changed everything. Elsa? Why did you choose that name? And what about her last name? Ar… Aren… what? "

It was more than obvious that she was trying to change the subject, but McGonagall decided to play along. "Arendelle," she said calmly as she got up from the couch and headed toward Flee. "And I chose that name because that's what I would have liked to call my daughter if I had had one." She snatched the folder from her. "Disrespectful girl".

"4487," the young witch muttered to herself. "And I was still reading that".

"Are you going to tell me why Lumen sent you after Pabbie instead of doing it himself?"

Flee scrubbed the couch with his arms crossed before forcing herself to answer. "Whatever, you're going to have to find out anyway."

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "So?"

Flee sighed. "Professor Trelawney disappeared a few days ago while you were in Norway. Lumen thinks it was them. The Death Eaters".

Minerva was filled with horror and turned to see the girl. There is no doubt, it was them. They are looking for her.

The girl grunted in her sleep, she squirmed every time Pabbie erased memories from her head and replaced them with new ones. McGonagall could see the image of the fjords, her old home, and finally, she could see how the memory of her parents and sister disappeared.

A/N: Well, the prologue is ready, I hope to get chapter one later this week.

A/N2: I have to inform you that English is not my first language, so if you see any weird word or sentence, please let me know. I would love to improve my English to bring you decent writing.

Thanks, and see ya.