Raised by the Dementors

I won't get lost, Right?

"It's nice to meet you, miss Black! Would you like a lemon drop? It's one of my favorite sweets at the moment!" I eyed the plastic wrapping suspiciously, but slowly nodded. If Dumbledore offered me a gift, who was I to refuse? The old man smiled, handing me the small package, which I unwrapped and separated from the small... candy? Is that what it was called? Anyhow, I put it into my mouth, trying to identify the new taste as he began speaking again. 

"I'm quite glad you made it today. When my predecessor Phineas told me you were coming, I came here at once. I hope you don't mind having your mother here too. After all, she is the one who came up with the plan for your escape! What a clever woman you've become, Narcissa... But I'm getting off topic here, aren't I? Miss Black, you are a witch with... a lot of potential, more than many of the students I have ever taught, as a matter of fact. For an eleven year old girl to become an animagus is unheard of in the Wizarding community, and to survive in the circumstances you were placed in as an infant... You're a powerful being, you are. And it would be rather unfortunate for those skills of yours to go to waste so early! To develop your magical talents, I'd like you to become a student at Hogwarts starting this September."

My mother seemed to shake her head at Dumbledore's compliment, but muttered a quick 'thank you' nonetheless. As for me, I was almost too stunned to speak at first. Me? A student at Hogwarts? It sounded impossible, mad, even. I was a wanted criminal, not a normal witch. Should I show my face at Hogwarts I'd become an anomaly. "Mr. Dumbledore, how would I even attend school? The Ministry wants me back... there- they want me to go back there and any contact with the general public will guarantee me being imprisoned again. I'm sorry if I seem to be missing something, but how would I even attend classes? I don't know anything about this world." 

My mother crossed her arms and Dumbledore smiled once more, popping a lemon drop into his mouth. I looked around at the people near our table, but none of them seemed to be batting an eye at us. It almost looked as if we were invisible to them all, decorations in a corner, not people. "You are no ordinary witch, miss Black. You will be a student like any other, but with a few changes here and there. If the situation comes to it, I can teach you myself! Oh, it's been so long since I taught a class, how wonderful it was. Plus, you can fly around the school and be unnoticable, can you not? That fixes a lot of out problems." 

He spoke as if his words were obvious but still managed to sound calm and reassuring, as if he had dealt with similar... Issues before. For a brief moment, I thought of how the whole system would work. Even if I could fly around the school, how would I be able to be a human during classes? Dumbledore seemed to notice my doubts but shook them off by assuring me that they had already been dealt with. 

My mother looked rather unintrested as she spoke to me, staring at a jade ring on her hand. It looked expensive, but Bellatrix once told me that not maintaining eye contact with someone as they spoke was rather rude. If even she could remember that, why did my mother not dare to look at me in the eye? Coward. Sure, she got me out of jail, but she had to face me at one point or another. I was her daughter, after all. Not some accessory to leave in Albus Dumbledore's care and forever run away from. 

"The headmaster and I have agreed on me taking you to Diagon Alley so you can get your wand as soon as possible. That way you can move into Hogwarts and become accustomed to it before the Term starts. Take my hand, we're leaving now." 

Too much information, too quickly.  Nevertheless, I grabbed my mother's hand and watched Dumbledore waved us goodbye, not getting to thank him for the lemon drop as I was already getting sucked into the weird world of apparation. After the world was done spinning, my mother dragged me into an alley, seemingly irritated or stressed. Maybe both. I could understand why, but it was still not pleasant to be around her, especially when my insides were threatening to spill out for the second time in thirty minutes.