Chapter 6
~Ella Pov~
"We are not your real parents"
That one sentence shattered any fraction of safety and security I had left.
My mouth felt dry as the disturbing uneasiness of the tension in the room finally descended down upon me.
I felt...betrayed....lied to.... by these people who had raised me as far back as I could remember.
I looked at this woman who I once called mother...but in this moment felt nothing more than a stranger.
Thousands of questions were circulating in my head.
If they weren't my parents then who were they?
And how did these people come to have me?
An unsettling knot settled in the pit of my stomach as a thought so horrifying that it made me feel dizzy materialized.
"Was I kidnapped?" I asked,my voice coming out as a whisper.
I looked at Officer Lane for answers...maybe she could help me...after all she was an officer of the law.
Maybe that's why she was here...
Mom laughed and said "No sweetie you weren't kidnapped...you were left on our doorstep as a baby."
My breath caught in my throat .
Left...on their doorstep.
Did my real parents not want me?
Did they know that I was a witch?
Did they outcast me because to them I was a freak.
A freak of nature.
And these people took me in...and still loved me after everything, even after the bathroom exploding and being forced into the Witness Protection Program because of me.
Now that they knew the truth of what I was...would they abandon me too?
I felt a twang of guilt.
If I were them would I even want me?
I seemed to attract more trouble than I'm worth.
I fought back the tears beginning to prick the corners of my eyes.
Mom hugged me when Dumbledore piped up "They had no clue about your ancestry but we were alerted to your presence through a magic that all underage wizards can be traced through...however,your name popped up in our system as a...Julia Quirrell "
"Julia Quirrell?" I asked confused.
I had never heard of that name until now.
"Your birth name", Dumbledore continued.
"And it seems as though your father...your biological father is a professor at Hogwarts.''
Wait...so if I go to Hogwarts I get to meet my dad?
Did he even want to see me?
Officer Lane spoke up " I myself am a half-blood ,which is why ,I am here due to your uhhh.....predicament of John Pierre -which Dumbledore fully knows about-and now the circumstances have indeed changed. You will be safer in Hogwarts during the school year and coming back to your parents in the summer holidays...constantly shifting between continents is the best course of action."
It took me a moment to realise what she had just said.
"Wait...what do you mean between continents?"
"Oh well you will be going to Hogwarts ,in England, during the school year and coming back to America to stay with your parents during the summer holidays."
Great.
From South Africa to America to England.
At this rate I should become an air hostess because I'm becoming a world class traveller.
"Okay so I'm leaving Yancy Academy?" I asked , knowing I will miss a certain pair of sea-green eyes.
"No not exactly...the paperwork is going to be a little bit messy ...so it'll take a year to process before we can move you", Officer Lane continued.
Then Dumbledore piped up. " that is why I have brought this ", he reached into his pocket and pulled out something that looked like a necklace.
It was gold in colour and had an hourglass in a circle.
"A time turner", he continued, "this will allow you to complete your muggle studies at Yancy Academy this year as well as attend Hogwarts ,all you have to do is move the hourglass backwards the amount of hours in a school day so you'll be starting the day all over again."
"Cool...Time travel" I said mesmerised.
"However how you get to school will be by Floo powder"
"Floo Powder?"
Dumbledore explained,'' All you have to do is take some powder in a fireplace and say 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" and whilst inside it throw it down.
He then gave me a timetable and my mom gave me a backpack with additional school books and supplies( required for Hogwarts.)
Dumbledore then said, "You need to come to Hogwarts now so that the Sorting Hat can decide which house to put you in."
"A house?"
"There are four, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin "He replied.
He stood up "Come come Julia , we need to figure out which house you are in and your father...your real father wants to speak to you."
I involuntarily gulped.