The Sun and The Dragon [a harry potter fanfic]

Chapter 1 : The Invitation

In a small town, somewhere on the outskirts of London, there is a little house. Small, as if hiding amongst dollhouses behind a large hill. The chimney smokes, a sign of the fireplace lit, in the late hours of the night. Oblivious to the hushed chatter downstairs, a young girl, 18-years-old, is sat in her bed on her phone. The blue light falls upon her light brown skin and reflects in her chocolate brown eyes. Annora, scrolled through Instagram like she often did on the nights she could not sleep. She scrolled past the countless faces of people she knows, knew, and even a few strangers too. Now and then Annora would stop scrolling to give a soft smile to a good Harry Potter meme. She did so now, as she smiled at a meme of Ed Sheeran in a family picture of the Weasley's, a fictional family Annora adored. 'Very loyal? Should 'a had my back but you put a knife in it. My hands are full, what else should I carry for you?' The 'NF' song that played from her earphones could be heard in a low hiss around the room. She glanced to look at the clock on her bedside table, 01:53 it read. Once again, the hours had seemed to slip away from Annora, she had always struggled with sleeping on time. She sighed and turned her phone off and stared into her reflection on the black screen for a while. Her long face looked blankly back at her as she sighed again, took out her earphones and turned to put her phone away. Annora had not thought this was how she'd spend her gap year. She had imagined herself travelling the world and meeting new people, where she might have finally found a place where she belonged. Annora seemed to finally notice the muttering that came from downstairs and abruptly sat upright in her bed. She strained her ears to make out what the voices were saying and who they belonged to before she dared to move. There was the familiar voice of her father and mother, but also another unknown voice. She turned to look at the clock – 02:01 – and made sure it was indeed late into the night. It was unusual for her parents to be awake at this time, as Annora had often stayed up this late, least they never seemed to make it obvious they were up at this hour. There was also the question of the guest, who would come to someone's house this late? As far as Annora knew they had no known living relatives and her parents never seemed to have many friends. Curious, Annora put on her mother's green slippers that she had lent her, her yellow slippers were still in the moving boxes somewhere and, as quiet as she could, creeped out of her room. The muttering got slightly louder as Annora closed her room's door behind her and inched closer to the stairs. She could now see the reception room light flooding the house with a soft orange-yellow glow.

'So, it really is time now, isn't it,' said Annora's father, Lee, in a deep, exhausted voice.

'I'm afraid so.' Said an unknown male voice, it was soft and calm.

'Professor, how is it possible for her to attend when she is already 18?' It was now Annora's mother who spoke, she sounded worried.

'Ah,' said the unknown voice, 'that is the Ministry's doing, I have explained this already to Lee. I think it unwise to waste time on these pointless details at this hour.' Countless questions seemed to flood Annora's mind as she inched closer to the stairs. She suspected she was the 18-year-old her mother had mentioned, but what school was she talking about? Was this why they had convinced her to take a year off before heading off to university? Annora stepped closer to the stair's oak railings to try and see who her parents were talking to.

'Never mind how it's possible Lucia,' Lee turned to his wife, 'she'll be safest within the school.' Just as he had finished his sentence, Annora was finally close enough to make out the open reception room door. Within the room she could also make out a man in a midnight blue cloak sat on the sofa, his cloak covered in small white stars, and a long white – almost silver – beard.

'You're right Lee, will you be watching over her personally professor?', Lucia inquired.

'Certainly Lucia.' The elderly man replied, his voice was full of a deep understanding.