September 5, 1991
Albus Dumbledore had held many titles over the years, but the title of headmaster was by far the most important, he thought as he surveyed the students coming into the Great Hall for breakfast. He chuckled a little at the sight of first years dragging their feet to their house tables. The morning after the first astronomy lesson of the year was always the same. Despite countless warnings from older students and teachers that they really ought to take a nap beforehand, most eleven year olds resented any comparison (real or imagined) to the little children they were trying so hard to prove they were not. Thus, the first Thursday breakfast of the year was almost inevitably filled with tired first years, smirking older years (especially those with first year siblings), and a table of amused professors. Even Severus rolled his eyes good-naturedly at the scene (though it was perhaps directed more towards the other members of the staff than anything). Albus chuckled again at that thought, then turned his mind back to the satisfaction that was his position as headmaster.
Yes, his other titles and responsibilities were important, but none compared to this. Teaching had long been his preferred occupation, and his role as headmaster had only increased his ability to help shape the young minds of their world, even if he sometimes missed teaching the students so directly. If it came down to it, Albus knew without a doubt that he would give up his other positions in an instant if it meant retaining his position as headmaster. The political responsibilities he held gave him ample opportunity to oversee the direction of the wizarding world and help guide the populace towards the light side of magic, but there he was always dealing with adults who more often than not proved to be stubborn and unyielding in their opinions. Here, at least, he was given the opportunity to help shape those opinions. The young students he oversaw could be taught and molded into great witches and wizards.
The fact that most of the stubborn adults he mentally complained about had been his students as well at one time or another wasn't particularly relevant to this line of thought. He would surely be able to sway these children, even if he hadn't been able to sway their parents, and the wizarding world would be better for it.
His musings were interrupted by the arrival of dozens of owls bringing the morning's mail. A beautiful snowy owl caught his eye, and he watched as it landed gracefully next to Ivy Potter, accepting a piece of something as she untied the letter it had brought. The bird was certainly an uncommon breed for these parts, and Albus wondered who had sent Ivy a letter with such a majestic looking bird. Perhaps it was her mysterious guardian.
Albus had so far been unable to learn anything about Ivy Potter's guardian. Ever since she had gone missing from the Dursleys he had been searching for the girl, but to no avail. Upon her arrival at Hogwarts, however, he had discovered one possible reason for his failure. Where he had been expecting a girl with a lightning scar and glasses, Ivy had shown up without either, making his descriptions to trusted witches and wizards secretly aiding in his search rather useless.
As headmaster, he had fully expected to be automatically made magical guardian of Ivy Potter once she arrived at Hogwarts, as was done with all muggleborn (or muggle-raised) students. Here again he was foiled, but it did at least inform him that whoever Ivy had been with the last couple years did have actual guardianship rights. It would be difficult to change that, even if he did know who exactly held her guardianship, but if it became necessary Albus was sure he could find a way to do so.
He sighed. Ivy being sorted into Slytherin had done nothing to assuage his fears over Ivy's guardianship situation, or his necessary plans at preparing her for her eventual role. It would have even much simpler if he could have began with a fresh slate. A young witch with no magical background, entranced by this newly discovered world and hitherto unknown knowledge of her parents and their noble sacrifice… But alas, he now had to prepare himself for the possibility that she had grown just as prejudiced as the majority of her house. It was unlikely that she had been exposed to too much dark magic in such a relatively short time and at such a young age, but then again he had seen plenty of students enter Hogwarts in the past with more knowledge of the dark arts than anyone should have in their lifetime. He would have to keep a careful eye on Ivy Potter.
And all of this because a mysterious stranger had stolen her away from the safety of the home he had so carefully placed her in.
He was by no means the only one with concerns over Ivy's sorting. Minerva had been quite shocked at first, but had immediately leapt to the conclusion that it was somehow Albus's fault for leaving Ivy at the Dursleys all those years ago. He wasn't quite sure how she had arrived at that opinion, but he did his best to ease her concerns. No need to risk accidentally antagonizing his Deputy so early in the term after all.
Severus had been quite another matter altogether. In a different set of circumstances the look on the boy's face when the hat announced the child of his best friend and greatest rival had been sorted into his own house would have been amusing. As it was, it was merely one more thing to sigh about. Severus had of course sworn to protect the child, but Albus worried that with the increased interaction that would inevitably result from his being her head of house, Severus might see the girl more as the daughter of the friend he lost and less as the daughter of the man he despised. Albus wanted him to protect Ivy, but he couldn't risk Severus actually caring about her. It would make it that much more difficult to convince Severus to return to spying once Voldemort returned. And if Severus were to try to interfere with his plans for Ivy? No, Albus needed his spy, and he needed to keep Severus from growing close to the girl. No doubt some subtle reminders that she was James' daughter would do the trick.
The reactions of the rest of the staff had been mixed but lacked the same type of emotional response as his two heads of house. Of course, Hagrid had been a little emotional about Ivy being there in the first place, but he hadn't said anything about the girl's sorting. Oh how Albus wished he had been able to adhere to his original plan and have Hagrid introduce Ivy to the wizarding world. It would have made so many things easier and Hagrid would no doubt have done a very good job at dissuading Ivy from considering Slytherin as an acceptable house. But what was done was done, and it did not do to dwell on regrets. Now was the time to gather new information, and adjust his plans accordingly. After a century of planning Albus liked to think that he had gotten fairly good at it.
Ivy finished scanning her letter just as two red heads plopped down on either side of her.
"Hello, Fred, George," she said. "What are you two doing over here?"
Draco looked liked he was about to jump in with some sort of insult, but she just pushed a piece of toast into his face. He was always so grumpy when he was hungry, and it seemed like he was nearly always hungry. Didn't the boy eat enough? Maybe not. That could explain why he was grumpy all the time. Especially around the Gryffindors. Ivy had heard somewhere that the color red made you more hungry. That explained it then.
"We just came to…"
"See our favorite…"
"Slytherin of course."
"And Draco," she added.
"Of course," the twins said together, giving Draco a smile that seemed to unnerve him. Weird. Didn't he know that people smiled to make you happy? Why did he look panicked?
"So how are you kids…"
"Surviving your first day…"
"After astronomy?"
"It's alright. Draco didn't want to take a nap beforehand though so we're really tired." A yawn punctuated the end of her sentence, reaffirming that statement.
"Of course not! I'm not a baby." Draco grew quieter, as if realizing just who he was talking to. Ivy didn't understand why he was so reluctant to talk to the twins. They were so nice.
Ivy rolled her eyes. "You don't have to be a baby to take naps, you know. Uncle Henry says it's one of life's greatest gifts, to be able to fall asleep whenever you want."
"Ah, the mysterious Uncle."
"What other wise words has he shared with you?"
"Well I told him all about all of you and how I made friends."
Ivy didn't notice the way all three boys tensed up slightly, although for different reasons.
"Wait, what did you tell him," Draco asked. He wanted to know that he was being accurately portrayed to someone as prestigious as Lord Peverell.
"I told him I met the three of you and that I thought you would be my best friends. I also asked him how many best friends I could have and he said as many as I wanted to. He also said it was a great idea to make fiends in different houses, and that I should keep making as many friends as I could. He wrote something about finding nice kids that I can study quietly with but I'm not really sure what he meant. Oh, and he said that you two would always be able to find me, but he didn't tell me how you could do that." Ivy looked at each twin in turn. "So how can you find me? It some sort of charm? Do you think you could teach me?"
Ivy missed the look of slight panic that flashed over both boys' faces before they were able to choke out an answer.
"'S not a charm," the one she was pretty sure was Fred muttered.
"We just know Hogwarts really well," said probably-George.
"And we're really good…"
"At finding people."
Draco looked unimpressed. "You're only third years. You can't possibly know the school better than all the older students. And why would you be able to find people so easily?"
If Ivy had been able to read the minds of the twins (or even their facial expressions a little better) she would have seen the alarms blaring red in their brains as they tried to come up with an excuse.
"Magic," said George. Man was this going to be awkward if she was mixing up two of her best friends.
"Motivation," said Fred at the same time. And with that they both rose quickly and left the great hall, presumably to head to class or something. Good for them for being so responsible and getting to class early.
Draco sighed, and then sighed again when Ivy didn't respond to his first one. "Why do they have to sit with us here," he said. "They have their own table over there." He gestured to the (much louder) Gryffindor table on the other side of the hall.
"Because they were being nice and coming and saying good morning. It's a nice thing to do with friends, you know."
"But they're not my friends."
"Well they're my friends, and you're my friend, so you might as well be friends."
Draco opened his mouth to reply but suddenly Pansy was there and Draco was sufficiently distracted. Pansy smirked at Ivy, who smiled back. Pansy didn't look quite as happy then. Ivy wasn't sure why. Wasn't she happy that Ivy had noticed how nice Pansy was being by distracting Draco from his grumpiness? Oh well. She could thank Pansy later. Time for class.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Loving the story so far? There's a whole world of magic and mystery waiting for you with over 85+ chapters still to come! By supporting my Patreon.
You not only get early access to new chapters but also exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and special perks just for fans like you.
Join us on this enchanted journey and help shape the future of the tale. Your support makes all the difference—discover more and become part of the adventure today!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
If you're eager to delve deeper into the story, consider joining my Patreon for exclusive content
(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
patreon.com/Kun_kaari
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~