The Cupboard
Albus Dumbledore was making a rather unexpected visit. A horrified dread had taken root in his stomach, and was sprouting in his body. The center of his palms tightened in response. The back of his neck prickled as he stepped under an archway with faded, peeling letters. The sign matched the Hogwarts acceptance letter in his pocket.
Hadrianna Potter
Cupboard Under The Stairs
Saint Thaddeus Orphanage
London, England
Each summer, part of Minerva’s job was to sort through the Hogwarts acceptance letters. She would see which letters could be sent with one owl to families with multiple siblings. And she’d also look for muggleborn addresses and schedule for a professor to introduce the child and family to magic.
Minerva banged on his door in the wee hours this morning and handed him the unexpected letter. Albus decided this couldn’t wait, so he made a short stop to drag Severus out of his house and then went to the address.
Albus used magic to let them into the orphanage.
It was still early. Very early. There were kitchen noises from a few rooms over, but everything else was silent.
A spell directed him to a staircase. To a tiny door under a staircase. Locked from the outside.
He reached his hand out but paused. A gentle buzz of magic was around the door.
Albus used a charm to open the door.
And there she was.
A tiny girl, eyes wide and scared, back pressed against the wall farthest from the door, clutching a pillow.
“Hello,” he murmured.
“Hello,” said the girl.
“My name is Albus. Would you like to come out and talk with us?”
The girl didn’t move. “It’s too early for adopters to visit.”
“Indeed, it is quite early. I’m very fond of watching the sunrise.”
It felt like a rudimentary shield on the inner part of the cupboard. He’d be delighted if the remembrance of another magical child at an orphanage with unusual control over magic wasn’t pounding against his mind.
“I’ll be in trouble if I leave before Mrs. Benson lets me out,” she finally said.
“I promise you will not be in trouble for this,” reassured Albus.
She obviously didn’t believe him. After a few seconds she shrugged. “Ok. I’ll see you in the adopter’s room once I freshen up?”
Albus smiled gently as she crept out of the cupboard. His eyes strayed to the little sign that said ‘haris room’ in crayon.
A few minutes later, the girl entered the room. Her long dark hair was in a neat braid, and her vivid green eyes watched them warily.
“Hello again,” said Albus with a smile. “My name is Albus Dumbledore. I am the Headmaster at my school. I have come to offer you a place this fall.”
Hari frowned. “A school?”
“Yes. It is called Hogwarts.”
“I haven’t applied for a school.”
Dumbledore nodded. “Our selection process is a bit unusual.”
Hari sat, but didn’t say anything.
After a pause, Dumbledore gently said, “You are magical. We are here to offer you a position at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”
Hari leaned back, and her hands clenched the armrests. Her eyes flicked to Snape’s expressionless face and back to Dumbledore. “That’s not funny,” she whispered.
“No,” agreed Dumbledore, “but it is the truth.”
Hari eyed the door. “Did Mrs. Benson send you? We’re in a Catholic orphanage. They say stuff like…’suffer not a witch to live.’ She thinks I’m strange, but I’m not…you know…evil.”
“My dear,” said Dumbledore quietly, “magic is not evil. Magic is incredible, It is part of me and Professor Snape and you and many others, and always has been.”
Dumbledore slid the acceptance letter to Hari. She looked at the envelope, not touching.
“You have the wrong person. My name isn’t Hadrianna Potter,” said Hari. After a pause she said, “How’d you know about my cupboard?”
“Magic,” said Dumbledore with a smile. “What is your name, my dear?”
“Hari Black.”
“I see. May I ask how you came to be here?”
“When I was a baby – they guess a little over one year old – I was dropped off in the entryway in a basket and blanket. There wasn’t anything else except a piece of paper with ‘Hari Black’ on it. No one ever came to look for me, so…” she shrugged.
Dumbledore had a feeling the next few weeks of his life were going to be spent figuring out how one of the Potter twins ended up in this horrendous place. He was not looking forward to it.
“We can do some tests to verify, but I believe the name you were born with was ‘Hadrianna Potter’. In any case, you most certainly do have magic. I felt it protecting your room.”
“You want me to believe you’re magical?” asked Hari, eyes narrowed.
“Indeed. It is true.” Albus was back to smiling.
“Well, show me then,” said Hari, arms across her chest.
Dumbledore transfigured the plain, grey teacups into a dainty porcelain with overlapping neon polkadots.
Hari stared at the teacups, mouth agape.
There was a pitter patter of feet. Hari looked terrified, made a motion with her hand, and the teacups were back to their boring grey.
A tiny girl burst in the room, looked around, and ran toward Hari. She climbed on Hari’s lap and hid her face against Hari, who wrapped her arms around the tiny girl.
“Hello, little dove. Why are you up so early?” asked Hari in a calm voice.
“Hungwee,” said the little girl.
Hari squeezed the girl in a quick hug. “Hmmm. Why don’t you go help in the kitchen? They might give you a bit of toast or something.”
A plate was pushed toward Hari. She looked at Snape, who nodded.
“Oh look. Our guests have brought some breakfast to share.”
The girl peeked at the pasty from under her hair.
“What do we say? prompted Hari.
“Fank you,” said the little girl. She grabbed the pasty from the plate and toddled out of the room.
Hari closed the door behind the girl and returned to her seat. “You can’t do that here. If Mrs. Benson sees…”
“I apologize, my dear,” said Albus. “I should have told you that we took precautions so none of the muggles would see our magic.” The dread Albus had been feeling calmed down a bit while watching Hari interact with the toddler. Tom never had such kindness in him.
“So… magic.” Hari looked dazed.
“Yes!” said Albus, eyes twinkling. “You have done unexpected or impossible things when angry or scared.” He pointed toward the grey teacups to prove his point.
Hari looked scared and whispered. “I think I made the cupboard safe. And I made stars on the ceiling that light up. And I don’t run out of tea. Is that magic?”
“Indeed, my dear.”
“And you teach people how to do more of that at your school?” asked Hari.
“Yes. We teach many subjects to prepare magical children for their lives. Our subjects are a bit different than muggle school.”
“Muggle?”
“Non-magical people,” clarified Dumbledore.
“Hmmm. Do you have classes with animals? I like them. I can talk to some animals, too! So far it’s only snakes. Do we learn that at Hogwarts?”
Dumbledore’s hair was going to fall out.
“There is a class called Care of Magical Creatures, but it is not available for students until their third year,” he said calmly.
“Oh. Well, that’s something to look forward to then,” said Hari. She didn’t look as scared.
“Do you want to open the letter, my dear?”
“Right. Yes. I can…” Hari picked up the letter and read through it.
Snape caught Dumbledore’s eye. He looked a little wild around the eyes. Dumbledore gave a tiny wink. Snape scowled in response, which made Albus smile.
“Oh,” said Hari sadly. “I can’t…I’m sorry you wasted your time, but I can’t go. I don’t have any money.”
“Ah. My dear. Do not let that trouble you. Now, shall we go?” said Albus.
“You… This is crazy, sir. You just want me to walk out of here, early this morning, without anyone knowing where I’m going? We just met. Are you adopting me?”
Dumbledore leaned forward. “There is a whole beautiful world of magic out there. Let me show it to you.” He covered Hari’s hand with his.
Hari drew in a sharp breath, eyes wide. “You feel like him!” she said. “Do all wizards feel the same, or do you just feel like him for some reason? I wondered if he was real.”
“Who?” said Albus.
“Oh. A man I met in my dreams. I was…hurt. It was…it was sort of like dreaming, but I couldn’t wake up. But I saw him. He’s in a tower like a princess in a fairytale. But he could see me when no one else could. He showed me how to get back to my body and wake up. He’s nice. He helped me.”
His passive Legilimency picked up an image. Dumbledore was going to drain all of the Calming Draughts in the hospital wing. The girl was communicating with Gellert Grindelwald in her dreams.
Hari was still talking. “Do you know him? If he’s real, then we should find him. I tried to tell him to leave that tower because he was cold, but he just shook his head. We should…we should make sure he’s alright…”
Dumbledore smiled. “I’m sure he appreciates your concern.” And Gellert would appreciate it – and use it in any way he could. “He lives quite far away. So what’s before us now, my dear, is whether or not you’ll come with me to Hogwarts.”
Hari was quiet for a few seconds. “What would he say?”
“I am confident he would want you to receive a magical education and leave this place,” answered Dumbledore. He was completely sure about this. If Gellert were free, he’d scoop up this little girl and raise her in his image.
The girl had a sweetness to her when interacting with small children that he hadn’t noticed in Tom. But she was wary of people, and had known too much of cruelty, hunger, and fear. It would be so easy for her to be turned to hate. And when she found out her mother, father, and twin were alive, happy, and famous while she was left unwanted…
Albus acknowledged the mistakes of his past. And even more, he learned from them. He was going to stop her from becoming a Dark Lady if he could. Albus sighed. He also had to deal with the current Dark Lord who would return, and the immature Boy-Who-Lived.
But she was a parselmouth seer who spoke with Grindelwald in her dreams.
Albus would make sure she felt safe and loved.
And if she took after Tom too much… Well…
“Can I bring my stars with me?” asked Hari.
“Of course, my dear. Let’s use this bag.” Albus conjured a red bag.
A few minutes later, they left the orphanage. Albus needed a large brandy.