The Philosopher's Stone (A Harry Potter Rewrite)

THE LADY IN GREEN

The woman did not reply. She fished out, from within the folds of her dress, a long wooden stick.

"You have one slice of bread left, I'm guessing?"

"How do you…". Ria was starting to feel positively alarmed.

"We'll get to that in a minute. Do you mind fetching the bread for me? I've travelled a long way."

After a moment of hesitation, Ria got up and moved into the kitchen. She took out a plate and a bowl. She put the two remaining slices of bread on the dish and some leftover soup in the bowl and brought them back to the table.

"I'm afraid I don't have too much to offer you. The soup isn't bad cold yet."

"Thank you," the lady said. Then she gave a casual flick to the wooden stick in her hand and the stale soup and bread on the table was replaced by a huge plate of juicy hot sausages and a bowl of mashed potato. Ria almost fell off her chair in surprise.

"What the……!"

"Please help yoursel.f"

"How on earth did you…"

"This," the lady said holding out the wooden stick, "is a wand. I am a witch," she continued. "Your father was a wizard. His family a part of our community; the wizarding community."

"Why are you talking in past tense?". Ria knew what the answer would be before she asked the question.

"I don't have any easy way to say this, I'm afraid. Your parents died soon after leaving you at the doorstep of this orphanage."

Ria was silent for a few minutes. Her head was reeling with all the information. Her parents were dead. She believed she had long since given up the hope to find her parents. But it turned out she had been wrong. The news was a blow to the little hope lurking in the shadows of her mind. Then a strange thought hit her and she looked up at the woman.

"Does that mean…..that I am a witch too?"

"Yes. You are. Why don't we talk while eating?" The woman suggested after a pause.

Ria took a sausage in her hand and nibbled at the edge. They were delicious. She didn't remember ever eating anything like it.

They both ate in silence for a while and then Ria spoke again.

"So….what does being a.... witch change for me?", Ria asked scrunching up her nose. She still couldn't quite come to terms with the fairy godmother magic wand scenario. "How did you know my parents? And why have you decided to show up after all these years?"

"The wizarding world has the magical counterparts of all the muggle facilities…"

"Excuse me, what?"

"Muggles. It's the term people with magic use for non-magic people. So as I was saying. We have schools in the wizarding world. There are schools in various countries. Europe has three schools in total. One of them is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That's the one where I teach. Now, all magical kids around Hogwarts are automatically assigned to attend the school. Your name has been down there since birth. And since you turned eleven this year, it's time for you to come to Hogwarts."

Ria felt that it was very inconsiderate for the woman to expect her to be able to process all this information at once. It was too much. She didn't understand how it was possible, even probable. She couldn't possibly be a witch could she?

"How do you know? That I'm a witch? How are you so sure?"

"Your name wouldn't have been down at Hogwarts if you didn't have magic in you. And I, for one, have seen you do magic."