6. A Potter? No...TWO POTTERS?
Mudiwa Onai was a gifted seer who spent most of her life teaching, born in Zimbabwe and growing up in Uganda, she had a relatively normal childhood. She attended Uagadou School of magic and achieved high marks in almost all of her classes and pursued a mastery in Divination and Transfiguration.
Mudiwa had hidden her gift throughout her childhood and had only revealed it once she had finished her education. From there she took on an almost Nomad-like lifestyle by travelling the African continent for four years before meeting her husband Musa and settling down in an undisclosed location to start their new family. By 1875 they had one daughter, Natsai, who unfortunately did not inherit her mothers gift.
After the birth of her daughter, Mudiwa officially took the position as a divination teacher in Uagadou. Unfortunately, in 1889 Musa had passed away and by 1890 Mudiwa and Natsai left the rest of the Onai family in Africa and moved to England to work and attend Hogwarts respectively.
“ Seeing the future is only part of what I teach my students. They must also be prepared for what the future may hold. ” This saying seemed to be a staple for what Mudiwa taught. She often talked of the surprise and distress that could come to children or other Seers that may see something that they do not understand-
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Lyra closed ‘The History of Seers’, it was one of the two books on Seers that she had been able to pick up from Diagon the year before. It was unfortunately more of a compiled book of biographies on past Seers with little mention on why most of them hid their gifts or how they were able to be noted as ‘gifted’ or ‘weak’ Seers. The other book she had on Seers, ‘The Sight’, which theorised where the Seer Ability started - Morgana LeFay apparently - and how it spread through so many bloodlines.
Shaking her head, Lyra set her current book down and made her way down the stairs to find her brother, one of the house elves. They’d been at Cokesworth for nearly two days now and already Lyra had been feeling restless.
“Oh! Sirius!” Lyra spotted the Grim, laid out quite comfortably in the sun. “I was wondering where you ran off to,” she mumbled, reaching down and petting the dog's head. “Have you seen Harry?” she asked curiously. Sirius just gave a low whine and nuzzled into her hand quite happily, Lyra hummed and bit her lip. “Meepy?” she called out, jumping in surprise at the loud popping sound that appeared beside her.
“How can Meepy help Little Mistress Lyra?” Meepy asked, head tilting to the side and her large ears flapping a little in curiosity.
“Have you seen Harry?” Lyra asked as she stood up properly, letting Sirius rest his big head on her shoulder. Meepy made a noise almost like a hum before answering.
“Young Master Harry does be telling Meepy and Peemy that he's be exploring the property. Peony be following Young Master Harry to makes sure he doesn’t hurts himself.” Meepy tells Lyra, a smile on her little face. Lyra hummed a little and nodded, figuring Harry was probably attempting to scope out if he could fly at the house or not.
“Ah, thank you Meepy, is Hedwig back yet with the books we sent her to collect?” Lyra questions, curious as she reaches up and pets Sirius’ head gently. Sirius’ tail slammed heavily against the floor, clearly enjoying the petting.
“Meepy hasn’t seen no Hedwig just yets. But Little Mistress Lyra did order many books. Meepy be thinking little Mistress will need glasses like her brother if she reads them all when they arrive.” Meepy shook her head in an almost scolding manner, Lyra felt a little bashful at the light scolding but she couldn’t help it. There were so many books that she’d never even considered beforehand and that wasn’t even the books on her list.
“I like books,” Lyra shrugged with the shoulder that Sirius wasn’t on. “Oh, actually, could you let Harry know that I’m going to make my way to the small corner shop down the road? I need to move my legs a bit and take Sirius for a walk, I think.” Lyra said, glancing at Sirius who had happily trotted towards the front door, his front feet tapping on the floor every time he made eye contact with her.
“Hmm…Meepy be telling Young Master Harry about this, but Meepy thinks it should be fine with the Grim-Wix. He be good protector.” Meepy told Lyra, who was briefly distracted by Sirius’ begging whines and happy foot taps.
“Mhm, mhm,” Lyra hummed, nodding to Meepy. “Cool, anyways - I’ll head off. Thanks Meepy, you’re the best!” Lyra called, already at the front door and grabbing the leash and collar they’d ordered in for Sirius and received the day before, both where a brilliant blue colour with constellations stitched into the leash and collar.
“Be safes!” Meepy told Lyra before popping away, Lyra just hummed and attached the collar and leash to Sirius, ignoring his grumbling as she started to lead the large dog out of the house.
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Severus sighed deeply as he quietly pursued the small corner apothecary near his home, a frown on his face as he compared the two Newt Tail’s for sale. They both looked perfectly preserved, but he took note of the wrinkled and peeling skin on one of them. He placed that one back, obviously that one had been there a little longer than his final choice.
“Sit…siiiiittttt….no, no-stay!” Severus paused at the childish voice that drifted into the apothecary, his eyes glancing towards the front door. He felt the air leave his lungs as he spotted the female Potter from a few days ago, she was pointing at a bloody Grim and talking to it as if it was a pet . He moved quickly and pulled her fully into the shop, eyes pinned on the Grim, its silver eyes staring back at him in a way that made his chest beat in fear . “Hey-oh…” Female Potter stuttered and gave Severus a confused look as he gave her a firm look.
Potters. Merlin, give him strength.
“ Miss Potter ,” he said, voice scathing as he kept his basket in his hand. “What on earth are you doing with a Grim of all things and why are you in Cokesworth?” Severus asked, eyeing her up calmly. Female Potter gave a small shrug and an easy smile, clearly not at all bothered by his tone.
How like her mother.
“Me and Harry moved into a small house not too far from here, and that Grim’s my familiar, Sir.” The female Potter responded like she was discussing the weather. Severus stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes, pinching his nose and quietly questioning how his life had come to this.
“You’ve managed to make a familiar out of a Grim?” Severus asked, letting his disbelief show. The girl just continued to smile at him.
“We called him Sirius.” She tells him happily.
And there’s her father.
“...Miss Potter ,” Severus sighed out, feeling as if he’s aged ten years after this two minute conversation. “Are you telling me that you and Mr Potter are currently staying in a home without an adult there?” He asked her, giving her a look that often has his Snakes crumbling and spilling their deepest secrets. She just smiles at him.
“We have two house elves and Siri to protect us…plus Hedwig, you don’t mess with Hedwig.” The girl told him so seriously that it took most of Severus’ willpower not to chuckle at her warning, he kept his face blank.
“I assume that your brother is aware that you’ve come to the Apothecary?” Severus asked tiredly, running his hand over his face. The smile slipped off her face for a moment, head tilting to the side a little.
“...I thought this was a local shop?” the girl offered, looking a little sheepish. Severus just looked at her plainly for a moment before sighing.
“The local shop is another mile down the road. This is the town's Apothecary, to the muggles it looks no different to the hedgewall. They won’t try to come in,” Severus explained, feeling exhausted from the conversation. “I’ll pay for my ingredients and then you, Miss Potter, shall lead me back to your home so I can ensure the wards are set up properly. Have your previous guardians arranged for your tutors to follow you to your new home?” Severus asked, moving towards the shelves once more. The girl followed like a little duckling, after checking on the blasted Grim, of course.
“We’ve never had any,” the girl told him as she looked over the shelf that housed different scales from different, local creatures. Her green eyes are bright with curiosity. He briefly remembered Lily looking at potion ingredients with such curiosity. “We’re grabbing some books in, hopefully that’ll help for the year but we did discuss hiring some tutors now that we’ve spoken to the Goblins and know where we stand money wise. But we’ve got no idea how to even start that search,” The girl frowned now, clearly unsure before adding on. “I’m more reluctant than Harry, giving strangers our address to come and go so freely…it makes me feel unsure…unsafe.” the girl admitted.
“It…is an issue that many parents of wizarding children face. I know many opt to send the child and tutor to the library in Diagon, they have rooms specifically for tutoring sessions and such for theory work.” Severus explained as he picked up some pixie wings.
“Oh…” the girl looked disheartened, “Just theory? Nothing practical?” The child asked, inspecting some ashwinder scales with a critical eye before placing them back on the shelf carefully. Severus could at least appreciate that she didn’t muddle the shelves for no reason.
“Parents often handle the practical side of things, most tutors are required to report purposeful underaged magic,” Severus stated, moving through the isles with the young girl following him. “Would your interest in the practical side of lessons relate to any particular subject?” Severus questioned.
He didn’t know why he was being so indulgent to this child, a child of Potters …but he found himself oddly charmed by the girl's quiet curiosity and genuine interest in things. That, and she was respectful about it.
Perhaps it had to do with how much she represented Lily too.
“I’m actually really interested in Potions,” the girl told him, voice soft as she looked around. “Harry told me it’s the subject you teach at Hogwarts, but I’ve been interested since I snuck Harry’s first year potions book when he came back from his first year. It’s fascinating , being able to physically make something and see it used-” the girl cut off, rubbing her neck. “I just find it really interesting.” the girl mumbled.
“Mmm..” Severus hummed as he paid for his items at the till. “You’ve not attempted to brew without supervision, have you?” Severus asked, tone close to scolding as he eyed the small girl. She scrunched her nose up in clear annoyance and exasperation.
“Meepy and Peemy won’t let me or Harry into the lab unless we have an adult to watch us or we’re officially adults. It sucks but I guess I can see it being for safety, but..” she trailed off. Severus hummed once more, nodding his head.
“...I see…” he muttered, letting the girl leave the building first. He kept his eye on the Grim that sniffed and nuzzled the girl, he felt a little sick seeing the beast stand over her so easily but…it was her familiar.
And familiar’s were sacred. It was illegal to remove a witch or wizard from their familiar and even more illegal to kill one. He nearly laughed as he imagined his snakes spotting the large Grim trotting after such a tiny girl.
This coming year will be interesting.
“Lead the way, Miss Potter.”