Chapter 1
Chapter One:
Arabella Davis sat on her bed lazily, one leg swinging off of the side as she gazed through her bedroom window. It was a gorgeous sunny day in August but the girl was plain bored. Colouring pencils littered the carpeted flooring along with her favorite Disney colouring book and various soft toys. Although she had a lot to play with, the girl couldn't help but feel bored. Her friends were all away either on holiday with their families or doing general grown up stuff which meant she was stuck home alone.
It was at this uneventful, boring moment that the girl heard a tap at the front door, before the letterbox banged open and a rather heavy sounding thud echoed through the otherwise silent house. The girl shot up from her bed and immediately raced to look out of her window, trying to catch a glimpse of the postman who had loudly delivered the post. But, much to her surprise, there was nobody there. No sign of a bright red post office van, or any sort of pushbike in sight.
Strange.
Arabella hopped down her steep staircase, making sure to grip the banister at the top tightly as she has always done, before racing towards the front door. There, lying right in the middle of the mat was a rather thick and fancy looking envelope. The girl picked the letter up and was even more surprised to see who it was addressed to:
Arabella Davis
26, Kray Close
Croydon
South London
United Kingdom
The back of the letter had been sealed with a thick coating of ruby red wax which was embroided with a strange design. Arabella dusted her fingers over the hard wax before ripping the envelope open, her excitement getting the better of her. Inside was a letter which the girl sat down on the floor to read, she found concentrating to be hard at times but she really did want to find out what this was all about.
"Dear Arabella,
I am beyond delighted and proud to be inviting you to join Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry this September. It is my understanding that you are not currently related to any living witches or wizards and so you should expect a visit soon from one of our professors to explain everything to you in due course. Until then, please see the following pages which will inform you on our uniform policy, required reading for Year 1 and all other class essentials.
Best Wishes,
Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School."
She flipped to the next page, which boldly outlined the uniform and different objects she would need to purchase before her arrival at this school. These included a dress shirt, skirt or trousers, 2 black robes, a satchel, cauldron, wand and a series of oddly named textbooks. A History of Magic was the first on the list, followed by potions textbooks and one which contained something called dark arts. Arabella was confused, what the hell was going on?
The girl read the letter over many times but it never got any easier to process. A school for witchcraft and wizardry? What could that even mean? There have been many times in Arabella's life where she has not been able to process situations like other people can and so the girl resorted to her only option - wait for her parents to get home so she can ask them.
Her parents work away from home a lot, which meant she usually had the house to herself. It has become such a common situation within their household that they wouldn't even tell her they were going, or how long for. They usually left enough food in the fridge to see her over, not that she was capable of cooking anything. The eleven year old was just left to fend for herself the majority of the time, which was fine when she wasn't so bored.
Therefore, it was no surprise when Sirius Black appeared at the girls front door at 6PM that Sunday night, that the girl was still home alone.
Sitting criss cross on her living room floor, Arabella had set out an elaborate game with her stuffed animals, meaning they were littered over the entire room. The girl was whispering quietly to herself as she played, so deep into her own imagination and game that she didn't hear the knock at the front door.
"You think you can stop me, but I am Mr Evil Hedgehog and I will rule this city!" The girl dramatically announced in a low grumble of a voice, holding onto her hedgehog toy at the top of the sofa.
"Over my dead body." She made the flamingo retort, with a sassy fluff of her feathers before pouncing on top of the hedgehog toy. It was amidst this soft toy battle that Sirius Black interrupted.
"Knock Knock." The man announced his presence loudly, having been able to charm open the simple muggle door easily. he had been stood in the corridor of the small house watching the little girl playing for a few seconds before making himself known to the girl.
Of course, Arabella screamed loudly, jumping out of her skin and she whipped around to see the unfamiliar man.
"Woah, hey now girlie, it's okay. My name is Professor Black and I am here to talk to your about Hogwarts."
Arabella stared blankly at the man in front of her, not immediately remembering the strange letter she had received only days previous.
The girls blank expression only fuelled the man in front of her to worry, instantly thinking he had gotten the wrong household.
"What's your name hun?" He asked in a kind voice, crouching down so he was no longer towering above her.
"Arabella Davis." The girl replied in an instant, not a passing thought on how dangerous her situation could be. There was a strange man in her house, one who
she does not know and he is asking her for her name. She should be running for the hills, screaming for help but instead her trusting and naive instincts have kicked in. Sirius Black, the head of classifications at Hogwarts had noted this but pushed it to the back of his mind for now. That was not why he was here.
Sirius was relieved he had not broken into the wrong house, but was a little miffed at the situation. He would usually be invited inside by the students parents and offered tea, coffee of biscuits. Instead, he was in a strange position of having to break into the house to talk to the girl, who seemed to be the only one home.
"Are your parents here sweetheart?" He asked sincerely, knowing how strange this situation must be. The girl shook her head silently. "Will they be back soon?"
"I'm not sure." She replied honestly, looking down at her lap. The girl has never really been questioned on her parents whereabouts by anyone, no neighbor or teacher has ever been interested.
"Well, would you like to sit with me and ask some questions about Hogwarts? I assume you got your letter?"
Arabella looked at the strange man through her eyelashes before she quickly shook her head. "I don't know you." She finally stated making the older man sigh.
The girl was quite right, she did not know him at all and had a right to be wary. But this meant he would need to come back to conduct her home visit another time, when she was not all on her own.
"Do you think your parents will be back tonight?" He asked calmly, only receiving another small shrug in return. Arabella was starting to become scared, as well as slightly annoyed. She was right in the middle of playing and knew she probably wouldn't be able to get back into the specific game she had been playing once he leaves. "I think I will need to come back again another day, when your parents are here." Sirius thought outloud.
These home visits are equally as important for the parents as well as for the students as the professors try to explain the wizarding world to the set of muggles.
"I'll tell ya what girlie, I will come back tomorrow and see if they are home then?"
Arabella thought for a moment, trying to think of where they could be.
"I think they have gone up North on holiday. They left like a week ago maybe?" The girl didn't really have much of a concept of time, but she was sure they have been gone for more than a few days, it seems like she had been alone for ever.
Sirius nodded his head before shooting the girl a small smile. "No worries sweetheart, everything will sort itself out."
The man turned to start walking towards the door, about to let himself out when the girl shouted after him,
"Don't worry about coming back Mister, I already have a school to go to anyway."
Sirius turned around at the information, his eyebrow raised. This would not be the first time a Muggle family have tired to pass off Hogwarts and continue with their muggle education, however in those instances the Ministry do have to get involved as they cannot let an underage witch or wizard grow up without knowing how to control their magic.
"I will see you soon girlie." Sirius replied simply before shooting her a wink and a wave and exiting through the front door. He cast a simple locking charm on the doors and windows of the property to ensure the girl was kept safe before he began walking away. There was a strange feeling deep in his gut as he began walking further from the run down house, his worries focusing on the poor young girl who was all alone. Surely that could not be allowed, even in the Muggle world?
Once he found himself on a deserted street, Sirius closed his eyes and instantly apparated to Godric's Hollow and entered the Potter residence. Their home was a small cottage like building, boasting a beautiful front garden which had been gardened and pruned to perfection. The man didn't feel the need to knock as he entered his life-long best friends home, his mind still stuck in South London.
"Sirius! What a lovely surprise!" Lily greeted with a roll of her eyes, she was always slightly miffed when he arrived unannounced but they were all used to it. Sirius just shot her a half smile in return which caused her face to fall. He was not usually this uptight and would normally make a snarky remark right back. "Everything okay?" She asked seriously.
"Is James home?" He asked in reply.
"He's in his study."
Before Lily had the chance to continue, Sirius was already making his way down the short corridor to his best friends study, thoughts and worries whizzing around in his head.
The man knocked on the old wooden door once before barging inside, his eyes setting instantly onto James Potter.
"Oh, do come in." James rolled his eyes which were rimmed with thick round glasses, his son Harry (his spitting image) sitting across the mahogany desk. Both men watched as Sirius collapsed into a chair opposite his friend and next to Harry, before emitting a low groan. "Trouble in paradise?"
Sirius' gaze snapped up as he shot his friend a glare.
"Of course not." He responded, flicking his wavy black hair out of his eyes as he spoke. "This is something a little more complicated."
And so the man proceeded to explain to his friend, Head Auror for the Ministry of Magic, about the little girl he had met just minutes previous. He should have gone straight to Professor Dumbledore, that would have been much more professional but he really felt he needed the advice of his friend. James also had the power and ability to jump into a situation such as this to help out, due to his job status.
James stared at Sirius once his explanation was finished, deep in thought. Both men had practically forgotten about Harry's presence in the conversation until that moment, when he chose to speak.
"So, you just left her there? Alone?" He questioned, his face aghast.
"What more could I do?" Sirius replied.
"For Merlin's sake Sirius, she's too young to be left alone like that? Don't you have some responsibility to keep the students at Hogwarts safe?" Harry snapped back, shaking his head. The boy had recently been classified as a caregiver, along with his long term boyfriend and his protective side seemed to be coming out full force. Sirius could understand it, being a caregiver himself, but had learnt over the years when it was acceptable to act upon these thoughts and emotions.
"Sirius did the only thing he could do." James finally piped in, after mulling the situation over heavily.
"It's not like I have seen a situation like this before." Sirius defended himself further, his face heating up from embarrassment.
Harry opened his mouth and was about to argue back when James jumped in.
"I think you should leave Harry. This is a situation for the Ministry and for the Professors at Hogwarts."
Before the boy could protest, his dad had shot him a firm stare signalling the finality of the conversation. Harry stood from his seat, already feeling worried for the young girl whom he had never met.
Once the boy had left the room, the two men stared at each other in silence. James' mouth quirked up slightly in amusement,
"Caregivers are so controlling." He teased, causing Sirius to lean across the desk and wack his friend with his wand. "Okay, okay lets focus on the task at hand. What are we going to do with this little girl?"
"Well we need to go back, preferably when her parents have returned." Sirius thought aloud, leaning back on his chair with two fingers resting on his chin.
"I can have two aurors placed outside their house to inform us of when they come home." James nodded along, already scrawling his quill across his parchment in a letter to the Ministry. "They will also be able to ensure the girls safety until we have a chance to speak to them."
Sirius nodded his head, watching his friend organise the help.
"I think I will need some back up for when the conversation takes place." he stated anxiously, already nervous for having to meet the parents. "We are unsure what the girls parents are like, but if they have the heart to leave her alone for days on end then that paints a pretty clear picture."
"I will write to Dumbledore, let him know I will be attending the meeting with you." James agreed, already placing his first piece of parchment in an envelope and scrawling the address of the Ministry on the front. "Now, I will let you know as soon as I have heard we have the green light to go. But until then, try to relax and go back home to Moony." James instructed his friend.
Sirius rolled his eyes, everything inside of him starting to burn. Caregivers do not like being told what to do.
"I'm going back home, but not because you told me to." Sirius replied seriously, making his friend laugh.
"See you soon Padfoot!"
Arabella spent the following few days thinking about her strange encounter and wishing for her parents return. Her friends were blowing up her little shitty phone, demanding to know where she was but she couldn't reply due to having no credit. The girl struggled to make friends her own age, but the people she hangs out with all find her 'cute' and therefore she enjoys spending her time with the older kids. They were all around 16-18 years old and had started experimenting with relationships, drugs and alcohol, not that Arabella was clued up with such things.
The girl would copy her friends, following in their actions without fully understanding the concept. Her 'friends' would allow her to join in, not fully realising themselves what they were doing.
It was whilst they were blowing her phone up with texts that Arabella's parents walked through the front door.
"You always pack like you're going away for weeks." Her dad complained as he struggled to haul the heavy bags into the front hallway, the strain was evident in his voice.
"Man up Michael, for Christ sake." Her mother just snapped back, waltzing past her husband and straight for the kitchen. Arabella heard the tell-tale sound of a cork popping out of a bottle, indicating her mother had gone straight for a drink.
To: Arabella - I'll pick you up at 8? Sammi xx
The girl couldn't respond but she knew her friend would be outside waiting to drag her to their party that night. She felt the usual excitement pool in her stomach at the thought of seeing all of her friends. But first she needed to tell her parents about this strange letter.
The girl crept down the stairs, her eyes peeking through the banister bars at her parents in the kitchen, trying to see what kind of mood they were in. Her mother was sat at the table, glass in hand whilst her dad rifled through the fridge. She quickly made her way into the room, and when neither parent greeted her, the girl spoke up.
"Hi!" She smiled happily, sitting herself down on the chair opposite her mum, letter in hand.
Her mother glanced up as a greeting, but said nothing and her father didn't even turn around.
"This letter came in the mail"
"Just put it on the side and we will open it later." Her father snapped, stressed from the long drive home with his incessant wife.
"Actually, I already opened it..." Arabella started which finally caught a reaction from the adults in the room. "It was addressed to me."
Her mothers bony hand instantly reached across the table to snatch the envelope as her dad whizzed around.
"What do you mean it was addressed to you?" Her mother sneered, taking no care in ripping the letter from the envelope.
Arabella just watched silently as her mothers eyes scanned the page, her brows furrowing together as she reached further down. Her father was reading over his wife's shoulder and looked equally confused by the writing on the page.
"What the hell is this?"
"Well I don't know, but you're going to have to tell them I am not going." The girl responded, looking down at her shoes awkwardly. A large part of her wanted her parents to know what this Hogwarts place was about, but she wasn't going to worry herself about something she does not understand.
"It must just be some weird joke." Her dad muttered before turning around and opening the fridge once again.
Arabella decided against mentioning the strange man who had entered their house, knowing they probably wouldn't be very happy that she let a stranger inside. Instead, the girl ended up leaving the room, where her mother sat staring at the paper in bewilderment as she raced upstairs to get changed ready to see her friends.
It wasn't long before the girl was ready, laying on her back on the edge of her bed waiting for the clock to reach eight. She had changed into her only pair of jeans and a jumper, not knowing if they were going to be hanging around outside of not and wanting to stay warm. She shot up with a start when there was a loud bang on the front door, her face instantly breaking out into a grin.
Sammi was 10 minutes early, a phenomenon and the girl was extremely excited to leave the house. Her dad was already at the front door, hand on the handle when she girl came barreling down the stairs, shouting about her friend picking her up.
Arabella stopped dead in her tracks as the front door opened to reveal 3 grown-ups. Two men and a woman stood on the front doorstep, all with serious expressions on their faces. The girl recognized one of the men and Sirius sent her a small smile which she did not return.
"Hello, Mr Davis?" Sirius greeted, holding his hand out to shake. Arabella's father just stared at the outstretched hand in bewilderment, not making a move. "Strange, I thought that was how muggle people greeted each other." Sirius stated with a shrug as he turned to his friend. James sent the man an eye roll, deciding to take over the conversation.
"We are here to discuss Arabella. I assume she has shown you her Hogwarts acceptance letter?" James asked with a quirk of his brow.
"oh, uhm yes, she has." Her dad cleared his throat, looking completely taken off gaurd.
By this point, Arabella's mother had come into view from the kitchen, wine glass in hand as she held on to the door frame for support.
"She aint going to some dumb private school." Her mother slurred with a shake of her head. "She will be walking to the one down the road there."
"Can we come inside to discuss?" Minerva suddenly asked, staring intently at the Muggles in question. Before her parents had the chance to object however, Sirius jumped in.
"That's great, thank you ever so much." He squeezed himself past Arabella's fathers outstretched arm and entered the small abode. "Your house is very charming."
"Is there a sitting room we can go into to have a chat?" James asked as he peered around the corridor, eyeing the little girl who remained on the stairs. As all the adults started silently filing into the living room, lead by Arabella's father, James stopped and turned to the young girl. "Will you join us sweetheart, it's about you after all?"
Arabella stared at the man, and then to her mother who was still stood by the kitchen door. She could see the clock on the wall behind her mother's head which read 7:56, she really didn't have time for this. Silently, the girl followed the adults into their living room and perched on the edge of the sofa awkwardly. She began fiddling with her hands as the adults in the room started their discussion.
"Arabella here has been born with some very special powers." Minerva started carefully, eyeing the parents the whole time. "Powers which she will need to be taught how to control, but also how to nurture and grow."
"That is why she was been sent a letter to Hogwarts, this is a school which helps young witches and wizards to learn about their abilities and control them." James continued when the parents showed blank expressions.
"This has got to be some sort of joke." Her mother hiccuped, "Arabella aint anything special."
Sirius frowned at the statement as he stared at the little girl in front of him. She didn't even react to the statement and it broke his heart.
"I can assure you, your daughter is very special indeed." He stated confidently, causing the little girl to smile slightly.
"Well, either way we have already told you she won't be attending. We can't afford no fancy private school." Her father stated confidently.
The three wizards in the room had to suppress their sighs, it was always frustrating having these conversations, like the muggles have a choice in the matter at all. But they are under strict instruction to break the news carefully in these situations and so that is what they will do.
"Attending Hogwarts is completely free." Minerva promised with a clasp of her hands. "The only fare you will have to pay is for books and uniform and such."
"As this is a special circumstance, I will be willing to take your daughter to get her supplies this year." Sirius piped up before the parents could say anything. This caused James and Minerva to look over at him in shock, but he kept his eyes on the small, anxious girl. Paying for a pupils school things has never happened before and has never been needed, but the man had a strong idea her parents would not be taking her to Diagon Alley anytime soon.
"So we wont have to pay for a thing?" Her mother ensured.
"Not a penny." Sirius confirmed with a nod of his head.
Her parents looked at each other and shrugged.
"Well, how far away is this silly school. I won't be driving her too far, I have work in the mornings." Her father stated, "She was going to be walking to her local school and I assume this isn't local."
"Hogwarts is in Scotland." Minerva stated, "She will be leaving on the school train, which again is free, on September 1st and students return by train again for the Christmas holidays."
Both parents looked surprised, and a smile etched it's way onto her mothers face.
"So she will be gone for most of the year?" She asked.
"Yes." James replied, his tone clipped. He really was not happy with the parents this girl has been living with.
It was at this point that a loud car horn emitted through the tiny room. Arabella finally glanced up from being glued to the floor and jumped from her space on the sofa. Her face had broken out into a large grin and she quickly grabbed her backpack and flung it onto her back.
"That's Sammi, we are going out." She stated casually, before racing to leave the room.
"Arabella, stop." Her father's voice boomed, making the girl spin round on her heels surprised. Her parents had never had an issue with her going out with friends before. "This is a meeting about you and your schooling, you will not just race out of here like that."
Sammi continued to beep her horn loudly, probably annoying the whole street. The girl could tell her father was getting annoyed from the red colour his face was turning.
The girl quickly looked towards the grown ups sitting opposite her parents.
"Are we done here?" She asked, her voice sounding frustrated.
"Of course darling, I will be back to get your stuff with you a few days before school starts. We can also arrange to pick you up to take you to the train on the day." Sirius nodded, smiling gently.
The girl didn't offer a reply or a goodbye before she raced out of the door and towards her friend. She slammed the front door shut behind her and left the adult sitting in a short silence.
"Well, thank you for co operating." James stated casually, slapping his knees as he stood up. They took it as their cue to leave and all rose form the sofa. The girls father saw the three out of the house, not offering a goodbye as he too slammed the front door shut. They watched casually at the car parked in front of the small house. They could see the girl, sitting next to someone much older, both heads down as they chatted.
"Come on, lets go." James patted Sirius on the shoulder to try and get the man to move away, but his eyes were glued to the girl and the car. Just before he was about to turn around, the girls both brought their heads up, each with a small white cigarette between their lips.
"I can't wait to get her away from all this." Sirius stated quietly as the car pulled away and the trio started to walk down the road.
"You and me both mate." James agreed with a nod.