Chapter 1
The young woman jerked upright, swallowing a scream, her light cotton blanket tangling around her legs, as she looked around wildly. She sagged in relief when she saw that she was alone in the drab little room. Chest heaving, she dropped her head to her hands and sucked in breath after breath, until her heart calmed. Then she heaved a sigh and flopped back onto her pillow.
“Fuck…” She whispered.
She dragged herself from the bed, pausing halfway through dressing to study her body, before finishing getting dressed in jeans and a lightweight t-shirt, then headed into her tiny kitchen. Her apartment was tiny, little more than a living room and a bedroom. The bedroom was nine by eight foot and the adjoining bathroom that was barely bigger than a broom closet, at three foot wide and eight foot long. It housed a shower stall, a soup-bowl sized sink and a standard toilet. The living-room-slash-kitchen was twelve-foot square, with one corner of that being the kitchenette. The entire apartment was twelve by twenty, the top floor of a five storey, yellow-brick, terrace house on New Row, just two hundred yards from the Leaky Cauldron.
With a freshly brewed mug of tea in her hands, she sat in one of the mismatched lounge chairs, that were the only furniture she had in the living area, and looked out the window. Waiting for the sun to rise over inner city London, she spent hours trying to reconcile two sets of memories.
Memories that overlapped, timewise, but were worlds apart in their contents.
In one set, she’d dropped out of high school, just weeks before her A Level exams.
In the second set, she’d fought in a secret magical war.
Unsurprisingly, the two didn’t mesh together.
That meant, that she had to actually sift through the entire mess to determine what had precedence and what was of secondary importance. But even that required some thought.
Did she want to live in the muggle world? Without magic?
Did she want to return to the magical world?
Or did she want to combine the two?
Was it even possible to combine the two?
By the time the sun rose, the young woman had ruled out living without magic, but had reached the conclusion that anything else? Well, that required more information. And that meant a trip to the Ministry. She would need to speak to her magical contact, before deciding anything.
Pity that he wasn’t expecting her for another ten years.
~~~
At eight-thirty-two, she stepped into the red phone box near Great Scotland Yard. She pressed the appropriate buttons and when asked gave her first name and her contact’s first name, but nothing more.
The badge that clattered into the coin tray, read simply ‘Ophelia, to see Saul’.
Entering the atrium, she joined the queue for wand weighing, unsure what to do, as she had no wand. Thankfully, there were a half-dozen or so people in front of her, so she had a few moments to think about it.
By the time there was only two people in front of her, she’d decided to tell the wizard manning the weighing machine, that her wand had broken and that she would have to purchase another, but was uncertain if any wandmakers had re-opened their shops. Just as the wizard in front of her placed his wand into the wand-weighing gizmo, Ophelia felt something touch the palm of her and hand her fingers automatically closed around a slender cylindrical item. A heartbeat later, she felt that warm rush of magic, that indicated that the wand she was holding, had chosen her to wield it.
She glanced down at the wand, removing a slip of parchment wrapped tightly around it, before looking to see where it had come from.
Garrick Ollivander gave her a subtle nod and ostentatiously looked at his pocket watch, before turning from the queue, towards the outgoing floo fireplaces. As he entered a fireplace, their eyes met and he smiled.
The wizard in front of Ophelia collected his wand and walked away. On autopilot, Ophelia inserted her wand where the sign pointed and waited.
“Phoenix feather and thestral tail hair, in elder and holly with ebony banding.” The wizard commented, then shrugged. “Odd mix.”
She gave him a tight smile. “It likes me.” Was all she said, as she collected the wand and headed for the lifts. She was fortunate that the lift she chose had no attendant and that there were six or seven people already in it, even more fortunate was the fact that someone had already selected the nineth floor.
The nineth floor was home to the Department of Mysteries, better known as the DoM.
~~~
The black-tiled hallway was empty and Ophelia had no intention of going any further without an escort. She watched calmly, as a wizard exited the lift and without looking back at her, entered a nearly hidden door on the left. Once she was alone, she glanced at the wand in her hand, studying the spirals of ebony wood that kept the elder and holly apart.
“I wonder…” She whispered, before nodding sharply. “Expecto patronum.” It took a few seconds before a familiar owl formed from the mist. “Oh… Hello, my sweet…” She whispered to the owl, her fingers reaching out as though to pet the bird. “Can you take a message to Saul Croaker for me?” The owl blinked and nodded its head, its beak opening to accept the message. “Saul, I refuse to go any further than the lifts. Either get out here or send someone to escort me to your office.”
It took a few minutes, but eventually a person appeared.
“I am to escort you to the office of Unspeakable Croaker.” The heavily shrouded person said, nothing about them giving any indication of their gender.
“Thank you.” Ophelia nodded to them.
“This way.” She was told sharply.
Two minutes later, a door was opened and her escort gestured for her to enter. Only the fact that she could see the Head Unspeakable sitting behind a desk in the room, caused her to step forward. The door closed behind her and Croaker waved her to a seat.
“Well.” The wizard huffed. “I hadn’t expected to see you so soon.”
“No.” Ophelia replied, sitting primly on the stiff-backed chair. “I wouldn’t think you did, I certainly wasn’t expecting to be woken at some ungodly hour, this morning, with a second set of memories, either.” She shrugged. “Mind you, today is Halloween and we all know how much Fate loves to toy with me. On that day, especially.”
“That is true.” Croaker nodded. “So, what can I do for you?”
“How secure is my current identity?” Ophelia asked bluntly.
“In what way?”
“If I wanted to enter the wizarding world,” she answered, “is this identity secure enough, for me to do so?”
“Ah.” Croaker grunted. “I see.” He turned to one side and cast a wordless spell, revealing the presence of an alcove filled with filing cabinets. Another silent spell and one drawer opened and a file floated through the air, coming to a rest on the desk in front of Croaker, who opened it and studied the contents. “Ah… This could be an issue.”
“In what way?” Ophelia asked.
“Your identity is complete… in the muggle world.” Croaker grimaced as he added the last few words. “But in the magical world, it’s got some gaps. And that is a problem.”
“What type of gaps?”
Croaker lifted his head and looked at her, his eyes narrowed in thought. “Your mother is fine, she was a muggle-raised halfblood, who attended Hogwarts in the 1970’s, she came to work for me, dying a few years later. Your father is… Well, you know more about him than I do.”
“Wizarding-raised pureblood.” Ophelia replied, briefly. “But where are the gaps?”
“The big gap, is you.” Croaker pointed a finger at her. “There’s no Hogwarts’ Letter, no home-schooling documents, no healers’ records, no wand registration, no under-age exemption, no OWLs, no NEWTs or apparition licence. No guardian. No Gringotts’ identity test. No vault. Nothing.”
“Huh.” Ophelia grunted in a very unladylike manner. “Can that be fixed? Or do we have to start again?”
“Oh, no. We’re not doing that again.” Croaker shook his head. “Altering a magical birth certificate, in such a way that not even Gringotts can detect it, was a complicated nightmare. It was only possible due to the assistance of the Unnamed. And their assistance requires a warrant from the Wizengamot. That’s not likely to be issued again. Certainly not without exposing your current and previous identities. And possibly the new identity, too. Not good, that.”
“No. But for me that means… what, exactly?” She asked.
“That means… We have to work with what we’ve got.” Croaker tapped a finger on the file. “Thankfully, while your previous identity was a rather public one, and you were publicly exiled into the muggle world, the Wizengamot ordered that your new, or should that be current(?), identity was to be known only to three people. Myself, Head of the Unnamed, Rumour, and Auror Shacklebolt, who wouldn’t remember unless either myself or Rumour were publicly acknowledged as dead, or you told him, yourself.”
“Right.” She nodded. “So, what needs to happen?”
“Juliette Lewisham, your current identity’s mother, was my apprentice, so me being your guardian, after her death, given your ‘father’s’ circumstances and the fact her parents’ were already dead, is understandable. It would also allow me to remove your application to Hogwarts, well before your Letter would have been sent. Healers’ records can be created, based on your previous identity’s records. Although, there are some things there, that need to be omitted.”
“Definitely.” She no longer had basilisk venom or phoenix tears in her blood, thanks to the involvement of the Unnamed.
“Wand registry could be an issue, though.”
“Why?”
“You said your wand was snapped. You don’t have one, currently.”
“Actually…” Ophelia smirked. “I do. Just a few minutes after I entered the Ministry this morning, Mr Ollivander pushed this into my hand,” she laid the elder/holly/ebony wand on desk, “according to the wand-weighing gizmo in the atrium, it’s elder and holly, with ebony banding and a core of phoenix feather and thestral tail hair.” Why she hesitated about telling him, about the slip of parchment that had been with the wand, she didn’t know.
“That’s an odd mix.” Croaker muttered, studying the wand.
“That… is exactly what the wizard manning the gizmo, said.” She huffed.
“Well, let me check its compatibility with your core and we’ll go from there.” He flicked his fingers and a black wand appeared in his hand. A wave of his wand and a quiet, “maguscompatum”, had a silvery ball of light appeared over Ophelia’s hand and the wand in it.
Seconds passed and the ball slowly condensed, before re-shaping into numbers.
992
“Well…” Croaker blinked. “Wasn’t expecting that.”
“What?” Ophelia asked.
“That wand registers as more compatible with your core, than most custom wands could be expected to register.”
“Meaning?”
“If a wand had been custom made for you, I still wouldn’t have expected it to register that high.” He replied.
“Ah.” She nodded. “And what does that mean for me?”
“I doubt you’ll find as good a match, again. Ever.” Croaker explained.
“Right.” Ophelia nodded. “So, can it be added to the registry?”
“Oh, yes, easily.” He nodded. “And that will enable me to slip in an under-age exemption. But OWLs and NEWTs? OWLs can be copied across from your previous identity, or you can sit them again, or we can modify them if you prefer. But NEWTs? I’m sorry, as it’s less than six months since you should have sat them, I can’t see a way to substitute them without detection. OWL and NEWT results are catalogued by the calendar, January to December, and aren’t archived until the following January.”
“How would one go about sitting OWLs or NEWTs? What’s involved? Do I need to wait for a specific time? What?”
“No, there’s no set time. You’d just need to notify the WEA and agree to a date.” Croaker answered. “Seeing as your wand was weighed, this morning, I’m going to have to use a time-turner to get everything in place, prior to this morning, otherwise the weighing machine would have recognised that your wand wasn’t registered. And this soon after the war ended? That would have had the Aurors down on you, like a Niffler on an open vault.”
“And how long will that take?” Ophelia asked.
“With access to a time-turner? Only a few minutes.” He glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall. “I can be back inside the half hour, with a folio of your documents. Once we determine exactly what needs to be placed and where.”
“So quickly?”
“Time-turner.” Croaker replied, like that explained everything.
“Right.” Ophelia nodded. “Let’s get it sorted, then.”
An hour and a half later, but only ten minutes after he walked out the door with a sheaf of loose parchment, Croaker walked back in it, a leather-bound folio in his hands.
“Done.” He said, dropping the folio on the desk in front of Ophelia.
“Ready for me to do my NEWTs?” She asked.
“Do you think you’re ready to sit NEWTs?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Um…” She hesitated. “The practicals, yes. Theory? Maybe not.”
“And how long do you think it would take to be ready?”
“I’m not sure…” Ophelia grimaced. “A week…?”
“Hmm…” Croaker hummed. “If I were to provide you with a single use time-turner, that would allow you to turn back one week… Would you be ready? To take your NEWTs, starting on Monday?”
“And where do you suppose I live for that week?” She asked. “It’s not like I can go home to study, is it?”
“Stay at the Leaky Cauldron.”
“How I do pay for that? I don’t have a Gringotts’ vault, and won’t until I open one, this afternoon or tomorrow. But I wouldn’t have access to said vault if I turned back a week. Do they take draughts?”
“True…” Croaker nodded, slowly. “Do you have any draughts?”
“Your people moved my money around and converted most of it to Gringotts’ draughts before I left the Ministry. I have nearly the entire fortune, in a shrunken trunk, in here.” Ophelia held up a small coin pouch. “Mostly in draughts, but there’s some jewellery and gold ingots, too. But I have little else. Nothing magical, other than a few photos and a pair of Family Heirlooms. No books, quills, parchment, cauldrons, robes. Nothing like that. I’d have to go shopping for everything.”
“Huh.” Croaker grunted. “We have standard apprentice research trunks. They have living spaces, library, potions lab, herbology greenhouse and a CoMC miniature creatures environment. Anyone coming to work in the DoM can purchase-”
“No.” She cut him off. “I will not work for the Ministry. Ever.”
“And I wouldn’t expect you to.” He held up a hand in a ‘stop’ motion. “What I was going to say, was that I would allow you to purchase one, as your circumstances are… Well, any ward of mine would be expected to already have one of our trunks. It would just cement your ‘history’ as far as the public are concerned.”
“Oh.” She blinked.
“Precisely.” He nodded at her. “And yes, the Cauldron take draughts. But allow me to provide you with a coin purse that has been enchanted with an ‘As Necessary Expansion Charm’ rune-spell sequence, along with feather-light and magical signature bonding charms.” He passed her a plain black coin purse. “These are sold by Gringotts, you don’t have to have a vault to buy one, but only Gringotts make them. Both openings have three internal pockets, one side is for coins, it has a 'Sort and Filter' spell-chain, to separate the coins into individual pockets, while the other is for draughts, ledgers and a notebook or folio.” He opened each side to show her. “To add coins from a draught, simply pulse your magic into the image of the pile of coins on the draught and it will break the transfiguration, releasing the coins from the draught. If the draught is for a large amount of coin, I’d suggest placing it within the purse before cancelling the transfig.”
“Thank you.” Ophelia gave him a small smile and accepted the purse. “May I retrieve a draught or two, to go in it?”
“Of course.” Croaker nodded.
Ophelia puller a tiny multi-compartment trunk from the coin pouch and laid it on the floor. A touch of her finger and the trunk enlarged to a similar size as Mad-Eye Moody’s, but hers only had three compartments. She opened the smallest of compartments and pulled out a handful of draughts, at random. It wasn’t until she’d closed and shrunk the trunk, tucking it back into her small shoulder bag, and had laid the draughts on the desk, that she checked to see how much they were for.
She blinked when she saw the numbers on the draughts. Yes, most of them were small amounts, less than ʛ100, but there were a few that were for considerably larger amounts. Two at ʛ1,000, three at ʛ5,000, one at ʛ10,000 and one at ʛ100,000. And that had barely made a dent in the pile of draughts in the trunk. A fortune, indeed.
“Well, at least I know I can afford one of your trunks.” Ophelia huffed.
“Not to mention a week at the Cauldron.” Croaker was just as surprised by the amounts, as she was.
“Yeah…” She sighed.
“Alright.” He huffed. “Hand over that ʛ10,000 draught and I’ll get you a trunk and a single-use time-turner.”
“What’s the difference between a single-use time-turner and a normal one?”
“With a standard time-turner, the amount of time turned is dependent on the number of times that the hourglass is rotated. It also depends on which type of time-turner you use. Time-turners made entirely of gold with a crystal hourglass, are hourly. Gold, with a crystal hourglass and platinum filigree-work, are daily. Platinum are weekly. And platinum with gold filigree-work are monthly. But single use time-turners are much rarer than standard time-turners. They’re all platinum, with gold filigree and have an hourglass made of white diamond. Not clear diamond, white diamond. The opaquer the diamond, the longer the time it can turn back.” He pulled two boxes from a drawer and laid them on the desk, opening each one and turning it so that the contents faced Ophelia. “The one on the left is a standard weekly time-turner, while the one on the right is a single-use time-turner. See the difference in the hourglasses?”
“Yes, one is clear and the other is smoky-white.” While she answered, she was also working on cancelling the transfig on a couple of the draughts.
“Exactly.” Croaker nodded.
“And how do I use it?”
“Unlike a standard time-turner, you only have to turn the hourglass once.” He answered. “The length of time-per-use is set, not so-long per turn.”
“Okay…” Ophelia nodded, focusing on remembering his instructions. “So what do I do next?”
“First, you put that box away, not necessarily in your trunk, you’re going to need to access it, fairly shortly.”
“My bag, then.” She closed the diamond time-turner’s box and tucked it into a pocket in her shoulder bag.
“Good.” Croaker nodded. “Next, I will provide you with one of our trunks, then I shall escort you out of the DoM.” He reached into a desk draw and retrieved a very shrunken trunk, that was much the same size and shape as a DVD case and had instructions written on the back. He laid it on the desk and slid it towards her. “You will make your way to the WEA, on level seven, there you can book in for your NEWTs. You might be lucky, they might be able to get you in, starting on Monday. Once you have that appointment, you could go for your apparition licence, if you wanted. If not, you’re done with the Ministry until your exams. Leave and find a quiet, out of the way place, use the time-turner, then head to the Cauldron. From there? Well… You’re a resourceful young m- lass. I think you’ll figure it out.”
“Right…” Ophelia sighed. She scooped up the coin purse, that now held a little over ʛ5,000.
“The portfolio can be shrunk and kept in the ledger-side of that purse, in place of a notebook.” The Unspeakable offered.
“Huh.” The young witch grunted and with barely a thought, shrank the folio, tucked it into the purse and dropped both the purse and the trunk into her bag. “Alright, get me out of here. I’ve appointments to make, rooms to rent and a lot of reading to do.” She smiled at him, to soften the harsh words.
“Indeed you do.” Croaker nodded and smiled back at her.
With that the wizard stood and, after checking that she had everything, Ophelia joined him. The walk from his office to the lifts was quick and quiet.
As they reached the lift, she spoke again. “What do you want me to do with the Time-turner once I’ve used it?”
“After you’ve finished your exam, if you would, please drop it back down here. Once you’ve used it, it’s expired, useless, just a decoration. It will need to be recharged in the Time Room to work again. I’d like you to return it, but there’s also another matter I’d like to speak with you about. Nothing life-threatening, for anyone, nor will I attempt to sway you into joining the Ministry. Simply something I would have you deliver for me. Having an Unspeakable walk into a business can be a nasty surprise for other customers and can drive them away from a business, and we’d all prefer that not to happen.” He pressed the call button for the lift, and as the DoM took precedence over other departments, it wouldn’t be long before one arrived.
Ophelia studied him quietly for a few seconds, before nodding. “Very well. When I’m finished with exams, I’ll be back.”
“Thank you, my dear.”
The arriving lift chimed and opened. With a nod and a smile of thanks, Ophelia stepped into it and looked at the lift attendant, who seemed rather nervous. “WEA, Level Seven, please.” She requested and the attendant nodded but said nothing.
~~~
Exiting the lift, Ophelia was pleased to see a plaque on the opposite wall, that gave directions to the various offices on that floor. Seeing that the Department of Magical Education and the WEA was to the left, she nodded to the lift attendant, offering him a §ickle for his composure when faced with an Unspeakable, before heading down the appropriate hall.
When she entered through the door of the Education department, the WEA was directly in front of her, with other offices to each side. She took a deep breath and stepped forward, ever the Gryffindor.
“May I help you, Miss?” A middle-aged wizard sat at a reception-type desk.
“Yes.” Ophelia replied. “I would like to book in for my NEWT exams, please.”
“Home-schooled or Hogwarts?” The wizard asked.
“Home-schooled.”
“Do you have you OWL results with you?”
“I do.” She retrieved the coin purse from her bag and pulled the folio from the purse, opening it to the appropriate document and laying it on the desk in front of the wizard.
“Right.” He pulled it a little closer and began to fill out a form with the details from it. “Astronomy, Charms, CoMC, DADA, Herbology, History of Magic, Muggle Studies, Potions, Study of Ancient Runes, and Transfig.” He looked up at her. “Are you wanting to take all subjects at the NEWT level? Please be aware, that tests costs ʛ5 per subject.”
The list of subjects wasn’t what she’d taken under her previous identity, but thanks to a friend’s teaching and Croaker’s quizzing, she was confident that she’d pass all of them. Maybe not with straight O’s, but E’s were certainly within her reach.
“Yes, I understand.” She nodded. “All of them, please.”
“Right.” He nodded and began marking down subject on the form. “Let me check and see what spaces are available and we can work up a schedule, for you.” He looked up at her. “Do you have preference for when?”
“As soon as possible, please.” She replied.
He gestured to a seat. “Please, be seated, I shall return as soon as I can.” He stood and walked through a door to his left, with the form in his hands.
When he returned, he had a second piece of parchment in his hand.
“Here we are.” He slid one sheet across to her. “We’ve had a cancellation starting on Monday. As you can see, it’s a busy schedule. Astronomy and History of Magic on Monday morning. Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes, Monday afternoon. Tuesday morning is Charms and CoMC, theory only. Tues afternoon is your CoMC practical. Wednesday morning is Herbology and Transfig, again theory only. Wednesday afternoon is your Transfig practical, nothing else. Thursday morning is Potions, theory only, and your Herbology practical. Thursday afternoon is the Charms practical. Friday is DADA, theory only, followed by your Potions practical to complete the morning session and DADA in the afternoon.”
“Busy schedule.” Ophelia commented.
“Yes, it is.” The wizard agreed. “We try to keep it as close to what would happen at Hogwarts, so neither home-schooled or Hogwarts students have any advantages.”
“Fair enough.” She nodded.
“That being said,” he warned, “few students actually take ten subjects, so your week will be… gruelling. Your worst days are going to be Thursday and Friday, one written exam and two practicals on both days. I don’t envy you, Miss.”
“Are Pepper-Up potions permitted?”
“Yes, they are.” The wizard answered. “As you enter the examination room, you’ll be tested for mind altering potions or charms. It’s a rune sequence etched into the door, itself, so everyone that enters is tested, even monitors and examiners. If, during the course of your exams, calming or Pepper-Up potions are required, please notify the monitor and they will be provided, free of charge. There’s little else that can done to make this a pleasant experience, so what we can do, we will.”
“Where do the potions come from? Who makes them?” She wasn’t keen on taking potions, not knowing the who brewed them.
“You have a choice of St. Mungo's or Hogwarts’ potions departments.”
“Who is brewing for each of them?”
“St. Mungo's have Eustace Burke and Helbert Spleen. Hogwarts have Horace Slughorn, Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape.”
“Hogwarts. Snape, if possible, please.” The man might have been an ass and a shite teacher, but when it came to brewing potions? No-one could deny his genius.
“Certainly, I’ll see that they’re ready.” The wizard made a note on the form and looked up at her, again. “All I need is your signature on this form, your payment and you’re right to go.” He spun the form around and indicated to a desk set, holding a quill and ink bottle. “Please be here, ready to start at eight o’clock. You are permitted to bring a purse, or bag, but it will remain in a box behind the monitor’s desk. You won’t need anything, everything will be provided for you. Including quills, inks, any equipment needed, as well as drinks and snacks between exams.”
“Thank you.” Ophelia said as she signed the form, then she pulled out her purse and hunted up a ʛ50 draught, which she placed on top of the form.
“Excellent, Miss. Good luck with your exams.” The wizard took back the form, marked that payment had been received and left the desk again, clearly dismissing Ophelia.
“Right…” She whispered. “Apparition.”
She headed back to the lifts and was unsurprised to see the same attendant.
“Apparition testing, level six, please.” She requested and the wizard gave her a tight smile and nodded.
A matter of only a few seconds passed before the lift doors opened again and when she held up a coin, the wizard shook his head.
“No, Miss. Only permitted one tip per person, per day. But thank you for the offer.”
“In that case, I give my thanks, instead.” She replied and the wizard just nodded.
She left the lift and followed the signs to the office, waiting while the witch on the welcome desk finished whatever it was, that she was writing.
“May I help you?” The witch asked.
“I’d like to take my apparition test, please.” Ophelia answered.
“Do you have preference for when? It’s just that we’ve had a cancellation. I may be able to slot you into that space.”
“That would be fine.” Ophelia nodded.
“Just let me double check with Mr Tofty, before I book you in.” The witch left the desk and trotted down a hallway behind her, re-emerging within seconds. “Yes, Mr Tofty can test you, now. Tests are ʛ5 which includes your licence, if you pass.”
“Okay.” Ophelia pulled out her purse and offered up the requisite number of coins.
“Lovely.” The witch smiled and slid the coins into a hole in the desk. “Mr Tofty will collect your details and-” she paused when an older wizard emerged from the hallway. “Here is Mr Tofty, now. He’ll walk you through everything you need to know. Good Luck.”
“Miss?” Mr Tofty gestured to the hallway. “If you’ll follow me, we can get you tested and on your way.” He headed back into the hall and with a smile of thanks to the witch, Ophelia followed him. “Now, do you have a Gringotts’ Identity test?”
“I do.” How Croaker had managed to secure one of those, Ophelia didn’t know, but she wasn’t going to question it. She pulled out her purse and retrieved the folio from it, opening it to the relevant document.
“Very good, Miss.” He gestured to a desk and a pair of chairs. “If you’ll have a seat, I’ll get the parchmentwork out of the way, then we’ll see to the testing.”
“Certainly, sir.” She sat and waited, as patiently as she knew how.
Tofty barely blinked at her surname, just writing it on the licence and three retrieval forms.
“Have you apparated before?” Tofty asked. “Done any training?”
“Yes, sir. Both.”
“Excellent.” Tofty smiled. “Please stand in the red circle.” She stood up and crossed to the Gryffindor-red roped circle. “Thank you. Please apparate to the… green circle.” He waited while she did that. “Lovely, now the… white circle.” A second pause. “The blue circle.” Another pause. “The red circle.” Another pause. “The white circle.” Another pause. “The purple circle.” Another pause, but this time Tofty stood up and joined her in the large purple circle. “Take me side-along to the yellow circle, please.” He held up his wrist.
Ophelia wrapped her fingers around the offered limb and with a quiet ‘crack’ they stood in the yellow circle.
“And lastly… the other side of the desk, please.” Another ‘crack’ and they stood exactly where Tofty had indicated. “Nicely done, very nicely done.” He steeped away from her and sat at the desk, nodding her towards the other seat. “I’m quite happy with your ability to apparate, both alone and side-along.” As he spoke, he was filling out her licence. “All that’s needed, now, is for you to activate the rune-work on these tokens, thus registering your magical signature, so that the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad can locate you, in event of any splinching accidents.” He detached three leather keyring-type tags from a form and slid them across the desk.
“Of course.” Ophelia nodded and picked up the first tag. Thirty seconds and the rune-work began to glow, slightly. Each of the other tags were activated and reattached to their forms and the forms placed in a folder with her name on it.
“Excellent. Here’s your licence. All done.” Tofty beamed at her and escorted her back to the reception area. “Have a good day.”
“Thank you.” She nodded to him and gave the welcome witch a smile and left the office. She had a quiet spot to find, preferably, somewhere well away from the Ministry. St. James’ Park might do, or Waterloo Gardens? Or a blind alley? Something that was practically deserted on the weekends?
It was getting close to midday on a Saturday, so one would expect parks and gardens to be busy, but… It wasn’t the nicest of days and it was Halloween. Combine those two and she didn’t see nearly as many people out and about as she would have, on any other Saturday. Which promptly reminder her, that she would need to cast muggle notice-me-not charms on herself before she used the time turner, she was turning back a week and had no idea how busy the place she'd chosen, would have been, back then. And that reminded her that she should go home and pack a bag of clothes, or at least some underwear. Wearing muggle clothes in the wizarding world wasn’t the smartest idea. She would need to purchase suitable witches clothing, if she intended to re-enter the wizarding world.
But did she want to stay in Diagon? Would it be better to go to one of the other wizarding settlements? Would one of them have a hotel or tavern, with accommodation?
As she walked the ten minutes home, she debated the matter. Packing a few clothes, some underwear and toiletries into the duffel she used for going to the gym, she suddenly remembered Ollivander’s note.
Her fingers were shaking slightly as she unrolled the slip of parchment.
I recommend the Tipped Kettle in Leeds.
Send me a letter requesting a meeting for last Saturday evening and that I bring the phoenix and thestral wands.
Well… that solved where to go, didn’t it?
~~~