"No, Harold, it doesn't hurt at all," she said with a smile.
"... Can I take the book that you gave me? You know, in case I get confused about something?"
"You know you'll get new, even better books at the school don't you?"
"Yes... but, those will be the school's books. I was wondering if I can have the book. You know, so it would just be mine?"
Miss Marilyn gave him a compassionate smile. "I don't see why not. I have extras and they're pretty out of date. Why not? You can keep your book, Harold. I don't mind."
Harry gave her the brightest smile he could manage. "Thank you so much!"
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
All of the following morning and afternoon, Harry waited anxiously for Snape's arrival and his subsequent test. He wished now he had asked his current guardian when the man would arrive, but now it was too late. The woman was in her office all day working on paperwork and organizing the details of the next adoption party. Now all he could do was wait and wonder what exactly his test would entail. Miss Marilyn had said it wouldn't hurt, but that didn't necessarily mean it wouldn't be difficult.
Would it be a written test? Would he have to try to do some spells? Would one of the staff doctors poke and prod him until they learned what they needed to know? What if there had been a mistake? What if he wasn't a wizard at all? What if some wizard or witch was playing a cruel joke and had caste a spell through his open window that day at the Dursley's? What if Dudley had caste that curse by accident and not him? Would he be sent back to the Durlsey's? Would they erase his memories and abandon him in some muggle orphanage? Would they dice him up into little bits and use him for dark rituals and potions ingredients?
His mind swam with these thoughts, and any and all attempts to distract himself failed to work for over a few minutes at a time. He paced during play and study periods, fiddled with his food during breakfast and lunch, and scanned his book from front to back in hopes of divining his future.
Finally, FINALLY, the time came and he was pulled away from dinner table by Miss Marilyn and taken to another room he had never seen before. It was large study with a giant fireplace, walls lined with enormous tomes, and set of comfortable looking chairs . A girl, no older than him, sat in one of the plush violet chairs already. She had spikey black hair with a tuff of purple running through her bangs, and wore a dark violet dress, black knee-high socks, and heavy black boots. She was the most normal looking girl he had seen in a month.
"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously, eyeing his bland clothing and wild hair critically.
"Harry Potter. And you?" He took the unoccupied seat across from her, and tried not to fidget.
"Emily White. Did they kidnap you too?"
Inside, Harry cheered. Finally, someone who thought of this entire matter as kidnaping. Really, how old did you have to be to figure this out?
"Yes, almost a month ago. Did they just pick you up?"
Emily visibly relaxed, although she looked suddenly confused.
"Yes. My family and I were going on holiday to France, and we were taking the ferry across the channel, but then... something happen. I remember going over the rail and then I remember landing in my bed at home, but I can't remember what happened in between."
"Sounds like you apparated by accident" Harry offered.
"Apparated? Is that a magic thing? I didn't even have an hour to try to sort things out when these...people just burst into my house and dragged me here. They kept saying they were wizards and witches, and they did such strange things, and they said I was a witch too but that's impossible. I can't do magic like they could."
"Apparition is a sort of magic. Have you always lived in England?"
"Magic? Me do magic? No way, no way. That's awesome! Mum and Dad are gonna flip!"
"Um... Emily..."
"Oh, no! I completely forgot about them! They probably think I'm at the bottom of the channel by now! Do you think the weird wizardy people got a hold of them? How did they even know I did magic to begin with? Hey, could my parents do magic too, do you suppose? Perhaps, they know what happened already and they called them to come pick me up?"
"No, Emily, listen..."
"Is this a sort of... I dunno... magical police station? You know, in case children accidently apparate away by accident? Is that what happened to you? Are you waiting for your parents too?"
"Emily, my parents are dead."
The gabby girl's mouth finally shut with a audible snap. She gave him a sheepish, apologetic look before saying speaking again at a more reasonable rate.
"I'm sorry, Harry. Listen to me blathering away, but it's just so exciting. This has to be the biggest adventure I've ever had, maybe the biggest one I'll ever have in my life, ya know? But, if you're parents are... you know, then what are you doing here."
Mentally, Harry cursed WYRA and the predicament they had just put him in. How was he suppose to explain all this to a girl no older than himself? He didn't even understand half of what was going on! Bloody insensitive bastards! He came here for a test, not... not... grief counseling!
"I...um... well... it's um... It's an orphanage... of sorts. Well, technically, it's an adoption center since...well... no one here's really an orphan... except me, of course, but I had relatives looking after me... so... really, it's a kidnaping center... kidnaping and adoption center... They'll never let you see your family again...Er..."
"WHAT?!"
She was on her feet in an instant, racing for the door. She tried the knob, but it held fast. She kicked at the door, lightly at first and then with full blown karate kicks but it wouldn't budge. She screamed and hissed and cried and begged. Finally, she was reduced to sobbing and turned back towards Harry who stood helplessly watching her from behind his chair.
"How can they? How can they just take me away from my mum and dad? What are they going to do with me? I can't... I can't do anything with out them..."
Harry timidly walked towards her, afraid at any moment she might lash out at him like she had the door, but he had barely reached for her when she suddenly leapt into his arms. She clung to him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder even though she was probably and inch or two taller than him. He hugged her awkwardly, unsure of what to say or do, but she didn't seem to care. Finally, she collected her self, a sniffling she pulled away to search for kleenex and trying to ignore everything else, including the boy she had cried on for ten whole minutes. Harry let her go, and just as he took his seat the study door opened.
Snape stalked in, his beaked nose and black robes making him look more like a vulture than Harry remembered. The vulpine man glanced at them both and sneered.
"Of course. A starving artist and a drama queen. I always manage to get the fun cases."
"You!" Emily began, snapping out of her distraught state in order to point an imperial finger at him. "I demand you bring me home at once! My family-"
Snape's wand came into his hand with a fluid familiarity of a maestro with his baton. He made a single gesture and Emily was suddenly silent. She kept talking, angrily by the looks of it, but Harry could not hear a thing she said. Though as she seemed to realize something had been done to her, he could guess at the rush of foul things she was spitting out at him. Snape merely regarded her with his usual smirk.
"Ms. White, your family believes you are quite drowned and will thus not be looking for you. You should mark yourself lucky. You at the very least, have a family that will remember your existence with some, no doubt exaggerated, fondness. A benefit no other muggleborn here can claim."
This silenced Emily for real, and she marked him with angry, but silent regard. Harry frowned angrily at the man, both for his insensitivity to the girl and-
"I want my book back."
Snape regarded him with a vaguely curious look. "I am surprised, Mr. Potter, that you can even recall said item after a month at WYRA. So either the memory charms are starting to weaken, you have a one track mind, or... you haven't been sleeping like you should."
Harry squirmed a bit under his dark gaze. He was unsure how the memory of his book might have exposed the avoidance of his bed. He also wasn't sure how to take the confirmation of the fact that spells were being used against him and the other children.
"I want my book," he said by way of distraction.
"Of course you do," Snape said, moving away from both children so that he might set his bag on the study's desk. He gestured towards Emily, and she let out a loud, audible gasp. "Unfortunately for you, it has already been destroyed, as per WYRA regulations. You had best forget about it and any other misguided attachments you may have formed in your previous life. It is time for you to keep focused on your future, and not your past, or you may find yourself without either. The wizarding world is not a kind, safe place despite the impression this... facility might have given you.
"Now come," Snape continued, setting a two vials of clear blue liquid and an instrument that reminded Harry of those toy recorders they handed out in elementary music class. "We all have more important matters to attend. Miss White, you first."