Invisible String | TVD x WIZARDING WORLD

HELLO ELEVEN (Pt. III)

The laughter was still floating around the room, and I was cradling my new enchanted compass to my chest when Care clapped her hands excitedly.
"Alright, birthday girl!" she beamed, dragging the moment out like a host at a game show. "Time for the final gift!"
Everyone turned, and my eyes went wide.
In the middle of the room stood a giant, towering box — so big it almost touched the ceiling — wrapped in glittery red shimmer paper that sparkled under the fairy lights, with a ridiculously oversized golden bow stuck lopsidedly on top.
"What the..." I muttered, stepping closer, completely in awe.
Daddy, standing beside me, smirked. "Careful. Could be a tiger in there."
"Or a pony!" care added.
"Or a highly dangerous death trap," Bonnie joked, winking.
I giggled nervously and placed my hands on the heavy lid, pushing with all my strength until it slid off —
— and the whole room held their breath.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then, suddenly—
POP!
A man — around thirty, dressed in strange old-fashioned clothes, slightly messy black hair, sharp grey eyes glinting mischievously — leapt out of the box like a jack-in-the-box.
He landed on the floor with a dramatic thud, straightened his jacket, pointed at me with a wild look in his eyes and —
"YOU'RE A WITCH, DIANA!" he bellowed triumphantly.
Silence.
The kind of silence so loud it rings in your ears.
Everyone — EVERYONE — stared, completely frozen.
Mouths open.
Eyes wide.
Processing.
Blinking like they had just seen a unicorn tap-dancing in the living room.
Then:
"WHAT THE FUCK," Care, Stefan, Bonnie, Klaus, Rebekah, Kol, Jeremy, Elijah — ALL said in unison, voices overlapping.
I stood there, eyes huge, heart thundering in my chest.
Witch?
What??
Was this another prank gift?!
But the stranger looked deadly serious.
Deadly serious.
Like he had just revealed the biggest secret of the universe.
In the blink of an eye, Dad's instincts kicked in ofc.
He moved like a blur, yanking me behind him, one arm thrown protectively across my body.
"You have come to the WRONG FUCKING PLACE, buddy," Daddy growled, his voice a low, dangerous rumble that made the hair on my arms stand up.
The boy — still standing beside the giant box — raised his hands like "whoa, chill" but it was too late.
Stefan was already circling him like a wolf, voice like ice:
"I can't guarantee if you'll leave this place alive."
Klaus, sneering with a wild glint in his eyes, did not waste a second.
He grabbed the boy — full hand around the boy's throat — and lifted him clean off the ground like he weighed nothing.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" Klaus barked, his hybrid strength making the boy squirm. "AND WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH THE GIRL?"
Bonnie, gathering magic at her fingertips, was already chanting under her breath.
Care looked half-ready to rip the boy's hair out herself.
Kol was laughing hysterically, because chaos was basically his love language.
Jeremy had pulled a stake from god knows where.
Even Elijah had straightened his jacket slightly, a subtle but clear "I'm ready to throw down" move.
The man — still dangling in the air — coughed, managing a half-choked sentence:
"REGULUS. BLACK. I COME FROM... HOGWARTS!"
Silence.
Again.
"Hog—WHAT?!" daddy snapped.
"You people are mental," Rebekah muttered, exasperated. "Why is there a man popping out of boxes announcing witches like it's a bloody Broadway show?"
Stefan, deadly serious: "Should I kill him?"
daddy, tightening his hold around me instinctively, darkened his voice:
"Maybe after he explains why the hell he just called my daughter a witch."
The man — Regulus — was still dangling from Klaus's iron grip when he managed to croak out,
"You heard that right. I come from Hogwarts. And, well... you may find it surprising, but..."
He gave a strained smile.
"I am Diana's godfather."
The room practically exploded with noise.
"Nice one, buddy," Stefan snapped sharply, cutting him off, arms folded across his chest like a bodyguard ready to pounce. He jerked his chin toward himself. "But her godfather's right here."
Klaus growled lowly, still holding Regulus like a rag doll.
daddy, shielding me with his entire body, spoke with that terrifying calmness that meant he was about two seconds away from tearing someone's heart out.
"Now, Mister Whatever-You-Are and Wherever-You-Came-From... you better start explaining yourself."
Regulus coughed, trying to loosen Klaus's death-grip on his neck. "Fine. Fine! Merlin's beard, you people are aggressive..."
Finally, Klaus dropped him with a thud onto the floor.
Regulus dusted himself off dramatically and said, "Hogwarts is a school — the school — of Witchcraft and Wizardry in London. It's where magical children learn about their powers. There's another one here in the States too — Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, up north."
The room remained tense, all eyes glaring daggers into him.
"How does that explain my daughter's connection to it?" care snapped, her arms crossed like she was two seconds from throwing Regulus out the window (she referred to me as her daughter, i'll cry).
Regulus glanced cautiously at daddy — then looked straight at me.
His voice softened.
"The Malfoys. Your biological parents."
Everything inside me froze.
"No, no, no," I shook my head furiously, stepping backward into daddy's safe arms. "Daddy, this guy's cooking something. We don't have anything to do with my biological parents. You said they were dead!" I blurted out desperately.
I felt daddy tense behind me.
Stefan and care exchanged a very serious look — the kind adults made when they knew something awful was about to come out.
Regulus' expression softened into something almost pitying.
He looked towards daddy, waiting for permission — some silent signal.
daddy's jaw clenched so tight the muscles visibly twitched, but finally, he gave a tiny nod.
Regulus took a breath.
"Dead? No. They're alive. Very much alive. In London, sweetheart."
My stomach twisted.
I spun to look up at daddy, searching for some kind of denial — some kind of lie — but his blue eyes looked shattered.
His voice broke slightly as he started,
"My princess, you really need to understand this..." he knelt down in front of me, gently taking my hands.
"I couldn't break your heart. I couldn't tell you. I—" he shook his head, biting back emotions. "I'm so sorry."
"They were not dead... this whole time?" my voice cracked painfully.
"Did... did you compel them, Daddy?" I whispered, almost afraid to hear the answer.
daddy's eyes widened instantly.
"No! No, baby, no — I didn't. I swear on everything I have — I don't even know those people. No one ever came looking for you."
He took a deep breath, like it hurt to say it.
"Someone left you. On the front steps of this very house. You were hardly five days old."
"No records. No notes. Nothing."
Tears welled up so fast in my eyes that I could barely see him anymore.
"Is this my truth?" I turned to Regulus, voice shaking. "Parents who didn't even want me?"
Regulus' expression darkened.
He spoke carefully now, knowing every word mattered.
"Lucius—your biological father..." he started, but immediately, I shot my hand up.
"Don't you ever—EVER—refer to anyone except HIM as my dad."
I jabbed my finger towards daddy, who still knelt protectively beside me, pride flashing briefly through his shattered, wet eyes.
"Very well," Regulus nodded solemnly.
He continued, voice steady:
"Lucius Malfoy thought you were a Squib — a child born into the magical world without any magic. To a man like him, obsessed with blood purity and power, that was... unacceptable."
"He thought you were a disgrace to the Malfoy name."
"So he got rid of you."
The words hit me like a punch in the gut.
I gasped, stumbling back a step — right into daddy's arms again.
daddy, who held me tighter now, like he could shield me from every cruel truth in the world.
Like he could stitch my heart back together just by being there.
And he did.
Because he was my dad.
Always had been.
Always would be.
No pureblood wizard in a castle in London could ever change that.
~~~~~~~~~~