The Three-Headed Snake

§ PROLOGUE §

Dorothea Edwards had always been a peculiar child. Her insatiable curiosity combined with her exuberant nature often found her in more trouble than she ought to have been. Not to mention that odd things happened both to and around her far too often for the likes of London society. 

Gran did nothing to discourage her, however. In fact, she turned her nose up to any of the neighbors that would suggest she ought to have left her for the changelings to reclaim. Dot could remember it vividly, the first time she'd overheard someone on the street hiss at their companion, "That's her, that's the fae child. I pity the old woman, she's had nothing but trouble since taking her in."  The words had stung harshly, tears immediately gathering in her big eyes as negative thoughts flooded her mind. 

But Gran had simply tilted her head to the little girl and promptly steered them in the other direction, stating loudly as they passed the two gossiping women, "Come along my little faerie. We have better things to do than listen to the likes of sinful rumors."

Her mouth had formed a hiss towards the end, like the words all but burned her tongue to even say them. Dot remembers being half-dragged back to their home, with a quick stop to pick up some sweets from the shops. When they'd arrived back at the home, Gran quickly latched onto the girl's collar, halting her immediate walk to the drawing room, where her books awaited her. "Now, hold on just a minute, we have to talk about this. What those women said was wrong, and I need you to know that. You are exactly who you are meant to be, dear, don't let those boring old sods get you down. They'll never amount to much more than what they've already."

For her next words, she'd crouched down to the girl's height, and said to her, "You, my darling little faerie, are destined for so much more than they could ever imagine."

She hadn't known what she meant at the time, but years later, on July 1, 1889, she received a letter. It was nearly dropped on her head as she was in the garden, pulling weeds from her flowers before it rained. She'd looked up to see an owl perched on the high fence, staring at her with unblinking eyes. It looked as if it were expecting something. She turned the envelope over in her hands to find it was addressed to her. 

This was the first red flag. Nothing came in the mail for her. She wasn't exactly a social butterfly by any means. Still, she peeled open the envelope to read the letter. What she found inside was enough to shock her system. Tears pooled as a smile blossomed. 

All the unanswered questions, the desire to assimilate into society with zero success. All of it made sense as she scanned over the letter. 

 HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY 

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a fifth-year student.

Term begins on September 1.

Preliminary supplies have been collected for you and will accompany you on your journey to the castle.

As you may be aware, the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery prohibits the use of magic by those under the age of seventeen outside school. However, due to your unique circumstances, the Ministry has graciously agreed to allow Professor Eleazar Fig to help you hone your spell-casting before escorting you from London to the castle for the start-of-term feast and the Sorting Ceremony.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Weasley

Deputy Headmistress

She was a witch. 

A/N: Hello, all you lovelies. I have been elated by the support you've shown already, and I can't wait to give you the story I'm sure you've been waiting for. Expect a weekly update unless I say otherwise. I have no intention of letting my grades slack, but I am thrilled to be writing again so I will endeavor to get chapters out in between my weekly updates as I can. 

Let me know if there is anyone interested in being my beta editor as well, I would love to have someone able to look over my work. Reach out to me if you would be inclined to receive early access to chapters before they are published and if you have some examples of your own writing. I'll be checking my messages daily until I have found someone.

See you all next week. <3

- B