“Darling, I’m so sorry I couldn't come sooner,” announced a woman as she entered the office. She had auburn hair, a gray skirt and jacket, and a white frilly blouse. She also had on one of those big wide brimmed floppy hats and wore boots reminiscent of riding boots. “Ah, Mrs Marshal, you had a child for me?”
“Mrs Finch-Fletchley, so good of you to come,” Mrs Marshal offered as she got up from her desk. “And on such short notice.
“Aerie, if you could, please…”
Nova stood up and made a polite curtsy. “Good afternoon, mam.”
“This is Miss Aerie. I am so glad you came. And she is surprisingly well behaved.”
“I do try my best,” Nova offered with a smile on her face. Mrs Finch-Fletchley gave her a concerned look.
“Dear, is this all you have?”
“Yes, Mam. I wasn’t allowed possessions. What I have now is thanks to the generosity of strangers.” One of the things Nova had learned while she was sitting there is that Aerie Potter's parents had been quite wealthy in the Muggle community as well. possibly thanks to their involvement with Mrs Nova Silverwood. Mrs Marshal had done an Electronic investigation of Mr and Mrs Potter's financial records to find that Aerie had a sizable inheritance of which the Dursley's had been doing their best to fritter it all away. And precious little ever got spent on Aerie Potter.
“Dear, is there a reason you have your bag under your hoodie?”
Nova allowed herself to hunch up a bit and dropped her head. “I, um, I had to keep it hidden so that the family I was staying with wouldn't take it from me. My Aunt, Uncle, and cousin Dudley. All I was ever allowed were things Dudley no longer saw as desirable. A friend gave me a cell phone so I could call for help.”
“That’s a mighty generous friend.”
“When she was taken in, following an altercation with a group of ruffians, she was wearing rags,” Mrs Marshal explained. “The boys involved are facing charges for the attempted assault.”
“Am I going to be charged?” Nova asked. After all, she was the one who did all the beating.
“No, bless me, no dear,” Mrs Marshal informed her. “As it turns out, Detective Nissim had turned on his dash cam and it proves that they rushed you and that you were defending yourself from yet another beat down. You are lucky. He’s one of a handful who has the new cameras.”
“Well, let me just sign for her, and we can be on our way.”
Nova was amazed at how many things had to be signed but as promised they were indeed soon on their way. But not straight to the house. Oh no, Mrs Finch-Fletchley wasn’t going to hear of it, and Nova soon found herself being lavished with new clothes. Mrs Finch-Fletchley also had a little blue four-door sedan, which meant everything could be put in the boot of the car.
The home was 107A Cambridge Street, but it was located on Sussex street. Mrs Finch-Fletchley parked out in front on the street, and the two got out, loaded up, and climbed the steps to the front door. The entry hall passed the kitchen and started climbing stairs.
“I hope you don’t mind being on the top floor. And the basement flat has been rented out, so no going down there.”
“That’s alright,” Nova offered.
“We have a spare bedroom for you.”
“Bedroom?”
“Yes dear, you get a whole bedroom to yourself.”
Four flights of stairs it was.
“My son Justin will be across from you, and you’ll have to share a toilet.”
“I used the downstairs guest toilet at the Dursleys. I wasn't even allowed upstairs. Except to clean that is.” She thought about it for a moment as they came to the top floor. “Did they tell you I lived in a cupboard?”
“Yes, dear. I wasn’t going to bring it up if you didn’t want to talk about it.”
“Hi, mom,” Called a boy from one of two rooms on the top floor. “Um, hello?”
“Justin, this is Aerie, she’s going to be your new foster sister.”
“What, now, I mean right now?”
“We did discuss this.”
“I just thought I’d have a little more warning, that’s all.”
Nova was starting to wonder if this boy was just another version of Dudley. That is until he stuck out his hand and said welcome to the family. “Thank you for welcoming me into your family,” Nova replied as she adjusted a load of clothing in her hands to free up her right, took hold of his hand, and gave it a shake.
“Hang on, I need to get some things out of the spare room,” Justin announced and dashed through the door leading into what was to be Aerie’s room. Nova and Mrs Finch-Fletchley followed.
“Justin, I did tell you to keep your things in your room did I not?” Mrs Finch-Fletchley stated.
“Sorry. I thought we’d get more warning though?”
It was a simple, yet elegant room with white walls and a wood floor done in a slightly bleached tone from the natural. There was a bed with a white bedspread, and a plush chair that was adjacent to a small writing desk. Mrs Finch-Fletchley made her way to a closet directly across from the doorway, and there was a window at the far end. There was also a doorway that opened into Justin’s room. It was presently wide open and Justin was dashing back and forth. Nova made her way to the closet and began hanging up her clothing.
“Aerie was separated from her caretakers this morning,” Mrs Finch-Fletchley explained as she shifted her efforts to a dresser where the new undergarments were placed in one drawer, and a couple of sweaters in another. There was one more drawer but there really wasn’t anything to put in it.
“Oh, and Aerie, feel free to call me Flora.”
“Yes, Mam… Flora,” Nova responded just as kitty Moonie came sauntering in like she owned the place. “Aaaa… is it alright if I have a cat?”
Moonie went over to the bed, jumped up, lay down right in the middle, crossed her fore-paws, and proceeded to watch everyone.
“Did she actually follow you?” Flora asked wondering how on earth the animal could have managed it.
“My allergies aren’t bothering me,” Justin offered. “Can we keep her?”
“I was feeding her scraps. The Dursleys didn’t know about her. She kind of comes and goes at will.”
“I can’t say no to a cat that somehow managed to follow you halfway across London,” Flora offered with a smile. “Now, it’s past time I started dinner.”
“Would you like some help? I don’t mind.”
“Are you sure? I’m to understand that the Dursleys were using you as unpaid labor.”
“It’s not so much the doing as the way the doing was done. I was expected to do nearly all of the chores. Dudley never did anything that required actual work unless it was harass Aerie day, and heaven help me if my grades were better than his. That typically turned into Aerie open hunting season. Though to be honest he didn’t really need an excuse.”
“And the teachers never did anything?” Justin asked.
“So long as he didn’t openly disrupt classes the teachers just turned a blind eye to it.”
“That’s just horrible,” Flora said in a soft tone. “But not to worry, I’m going to take you to Pimlico tomorrow morning. I’m on the board, so I doubt I’ll have any issues getting you in.”
“I will be looking forward to it,” Nova replied cheerfully. The two then went back downstairs all the way to the ground floor where they set to creating a scrumptious dinner.
“I’m home- here now, who have we now?” Asked a man who’d come in through the front door just moments ago.
“Basil…” Flora announced, went to him, and gave him a kiss. No hug as she’d implements of cooking in her hands. “We have been awarded a foster child. Basil, this is Aerie Potter, Aerie, my husband Basil.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you, good sir,” Nova offered with a curtsy of sorts.
“They finally decided to let us have a child?”
“Finally?” Nova asked softly.
“Long waiting list dear,” Flora informed Nova. She turned back to Basil to tell him what a treasure Aerie was and how bad she’d had it as she went back to her cooking.
As it turned out Basil was a Solicitor with a fairly influential law firm. And as such, Nova wondered if it’d be enough to see to it she’d never have to go back to the Dursley home ever again.
“Murdered, I’m afraid,” Nova replied to the inevitable question. Flora scolded him for having asked. “It’s alright. I was just a toddler at the time. I barely remember any of it. The Dursleys told me they died in an auto accident but I found out when kids at school got it into their heads to tease me about it. I’m to understand my parents had a lot of money too. Not like I ever saw any of it. That is, short of that’s how they could afford to give Dudley so many nice things.”
“And she lived in a cupboard under the stairs,” Flora stated.
“A cupboard? Under the stairs?” Basil had heard plenty of horror stories, but making a child live in a cupboard was new to him.
“Separated her from them this morning after a bunch of boys attempted an assault on her. The one who instigated it was her own cousin.”
“Attempted… I’m gathering someone was there to put a stop to it.”
“They were, but not before I’d the chance to give them some payback,” Nova announced in a deadpan tone. “You know, I think everything should be ready in about ten minutes.”
“Something tells me the Dursleys are going to starve without you,” Flora teased.
Nova found dinner that night to be quite enjoyable, after dinner she went through her school books to refresh her memory of what a child her age was expected to know, and went to bed happy. If her host noticed that she never touched any of the roast at dinner, they never said a thing.
The next morning Nova dressed in a gray skirt, leggings, white blouse, and a navy blue sweater. This was so she’d be in compliance with the school’s dress code. Flora introduced her to the people in the office who handed her over to someone who set her up with a battery of tests. Nova decided that it’d be best not to hold back. That, and she was curious how they’d react. The lings were constantly being accused of cheating. Granted that their hive mind meant that technically they were, but there was absolutely no way to prove it unless you knew they were lings. As for Nova, she just happened to have near-perfect recall.
When Nova had finished her tests she was allowed to sit in with Justin’s class. As for the staff, Nova’s behavior had won them over. The transcript they got from Aerie Potter’s old school had them concerned as it listed her as a trouble maker problem child who was slovenly and cheated on her tests. Regarding the accusation of slovenly, they had been appraised of Aerie’s past. The test they’d given her, of which it would have been impossible for her to cheat on, was now demonstrating that they had a genius on their hands. No, it wasn’t perfect, but she had demonstrated that she was knowledgeable beyond her apparent years.
For Nova, playing the part of an elementary school student was proving fun. It was nothing like the school Dudley was in where she, that is the lings masquerading as Aerie were expected to sit in the back and be quiet. Here the instructor actively engaged each and every student during the lessons. There was just one hitch, and that was in the form of Hermione Granger. That’s right, Hermione was in the same class. You know bushy brown hair, buck teeth, a bit on the bossy side, and dark complexion. Any time someone took too long to answer, Hermione would blurt out the answer and would even include additional information that the instructor hadn’t asked for.
“Hermione, dear, we all know you know the answer,” Their instructor admonished on more than one occasion. “I need to know if the others know.”
“Sorry, mam.” Hermione would offer followed by the class continuing.
At lunch, Nova made a point of sitting right across from Hermione who just happened to have her nose in a book.
“Hi,” Nova offered.
Hermione looked up from her book and then went right back to her book.
“You’re wasting your time with her,” Offered a blond girl as she sat down next to Nova. “My name’s Lavender. Yours was Aerie, Aerie Potter?”
“And you are wondering if I’m related to the famous Harry Potter, no doubt.”
Lavender’s face lit up, and a pair of twin girls sat down at the table.
“Can’t be very famous if I’ve never heard of him,” Hermione quipped from behind her book.
“Is she always like this?” Nova asked of Lavender.
“Afraid so. She’s quite insufferable.”
“And here I am trying to make friends with her. Hermione, a little over ten years ago terrorists wiped out a family leaving one survivor. The child became famous among certain groups simply for not having died, but outside of that community I’d think it’d be nothing more than a statistical blip.”
“So then, how do you know so much?” Hermione inquired.
“It was a Potter family.”
“Harry, Potter,” Chimed the twins.
“No,” Nova stated holding up her right index finger.
“No?” the three girls asked. Their eyes opened wide when Nova pulled back her forelock to reveal the cut.
“That looks kind of recent,” Lavender said skeptically.
“There was something stuck in there. I was that lone survivor, and I get dumped on a doorstep in the middle of the night,” Nova explained. “My aunt and uncle never once bothered to get me into a doctor. I managed to get a hold of it a couple of days ago, and I yanked it out.”
“Ouch.” Lavender offered.
“You are lucky it didn’t get infected,” Hermione provided.
“My aunt and uncle dressed me in my cousin Dudley’s old clothes so I suppose I looked a bit like a boy because of it. The thing is someone got my name wrong fairly early on.”
“OK, I can see where Aerie might be misheard as Harry,” One of the twins offered. “Hi, I’m Parvati.”
“But the prophecy,” hissed the other twin. “I’m Padma.”
“Overheard in a pub,” Lavender provided. “Might not have had anything to do with Aerie.”
“Prophesy?” Hermione asked. “Prophesies aren’t real.”
“They can be real enough if someone works to make it real,” Nova suggested.
“You do realize that what you are suggesting is that your family was sacrificed.”
“I imagine that’s a real possibility. Make a prophecy in a pub knowing it’ll get back to a certain individual who not only believes in prophecies but is willing to risk all to make sure it doesn’t come true. Make sure to leak information that makes it obvious who the prophecy is about. Or to be more exact, who we want it to be about.”
“Hadn’t read enough folklore I gather,” Hermione quipped. “The best way to deal with a prophecy is to ignore it.”
“Seriously?” Lavender asked.
“She’s not wrong,” Nova offered. “Every folk tail I’ve read where a prophecy was involved, it was the actions of people trying to stop the prophesy that caused it to come true.”
“So, what brings you here?” Lavender asked.
“My cousin and his gang decided they were going to teach me a lesson, only I’d had one too many ‘lessons’ from them and wasn’t going to just let it happen again. That and they made the mistake of doing it in front of the police. I got taken to the police station where I had to make a statement. They also took photos of my bruises and did x-rays. Next thing I know… who am I kidding, it took all afternoon, and I got placed in a foster home. New clothing, and even my own bedroom.”
“Surely you didn’t share with your cousin?” Hermione asked sounding appalled.
“Share? That boy wouldn't share if his life depended on it. I slept on a cot in a cupboard under the stairs.”
“That’s horrible,” Lavender proclaimed.
“Well I’m out now, and hopefully I’ll never have to go back.”
“So where are you now? Lavender asked.
“I’m at Justin’s house. I get to be his sister.”
“He’s kind of cute for a…” Lavender began.
“A future Hufflepuff?” Nova finished for her.
“What, seriously?” The twins chimed.
“I think he’s got what it takes to get in.”
“In, in where?” Hermione asked, now seriously interested.
“You ever have anything strange happen?” Nova asked. “You can tell us. If you’d like I can go first. Some examples I can think of are, my aunt got it into her head to shave my head with shears once. Grew back overnight." The ling who took over in the morning had simply forgotten to make their hair short. "One time she tried to make me wear the ugliest sweater ever. I think it was a dog sweater. It shrank until it was doll sized." The ling she was trying to put it on used their magic to shrink it. "One time when Dudley and his goons were after me I somehow managed to get up on the roof of the school I was going to." The ling had teleported out of desperation. "Naturally, everyone was upset at me for being up there, and couldn't care less why I was up there. Another time I allegedly turned my teacher’s hair purple. Not my fault her dye job went off, it’s just that there were enough strange happenings around me that should anything unusual happen, I get blamed.”
“I’m not going crazy then?” Hermione asked.
“No, Hermione, you aren’t crazy,” Nova reassured her. “Try to think of it in terms of a telekinetic ability that makes it possible for the person so gifted to manipulate the world around them on the quantum level.”
“And throw the laws of physics right out the window,” Hermione said softly. “Or for lack of a better definition of the effect, magic.”
“Just one little caveat,” Nova cautioned. “The government has certain rules. You aren’t supposed to know about it until you get your letter from Hogwarts. That or the Eques Institute of Technology.” Nova had helped herself to Justin’s computer and found that her counterpart had been very busy.
“E-I-T is very difficult to get into though,” Hermione pointed out.
“Hogwarts is kind of automatic for people living in England,” Lavender explained. “The possibility of being able to go to E-I-T is why I’m even attending this school. As for Hogwarts, all we need is the raw talent that they are looking for. We will get our letters mid to late summer. I’ll get one, Parvati and Padma will get their letters. Aerie is bound to get one.”
“Let us hope they spell my name right,” Nova lamented.
“That would be awkward,” Padma offered.
“Well, if I should somehow not get a letter with my actual name on it, I had best make sure my grades are up to and or exceeding standards,” stated as though making some grand joke. “Hermione, any chance you are free for a study session?”
Hermione just looked at Nova, make that Aerie, with the most incredulous expression on her face. And then she busts up laughing.
“Alright, fine, why not?” Hermione finally managed to say.
That afternoon saw the girls all going to Hermione’s house for a study session, and for the next three days, Aerie lived the life of a normal ordinary girl.