Secret Daughter (A Harry Potter FanFic)

Chapter 1

Elliana McKean was a beautiful young girl. She had long raven black hair that flowed down to her waist, a pale complexion, and piercing green eyes. Despite her obvious beauty, she was still self-conscious about her nose, which had a slight hook to it that she thought made her look like a cartoon witch. Being such a beautiful young girl, she was incredibly popular and had many friends at school. Elliana was just coming home from one such friend's house when she walked in her front door, not knowing that her life was about to change. 

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When she walked in the front door to her house, both of her parents were standing in the living room. She gave a quick hello as she walked over to the stairs to head up to her bedroom. When neither of her parents responded to her arrival, she looked again and noticed that something was off. She back-tracked and walked into the living room. When she entered the room, both of her parents were standing against the far wall, and they looked uncomfortable. Neither was looking at her, but when she followed their gazes, she realized that they were not alone in the room. Sitting- quite comfortably- on the couch was the strangest man Elliana could remember seeing. This man was wearing deep purple robes covered in intricate golden patterns, a slightly tilted hat with a matching pattern. His outfit was strange on its own, but this man also had long grey hair and a beard that reached almost to his waist. Though both her parents were staring at the odd man, he was looking directly at her. 

As she took another hesitant step into the room, moving to get a better look at this intruder in their home, the strange man rose from his seat, taking off his hat and bowing his head slightly. As he bowed his head, his bright blue eyes never left hers. His imposing height and presence was immediately frightening, but there was a kindness in those eyes that put Ellie at ease. When he spoke, his voice filled the room. She had not realized how unnaturally silent the room had been until the point at which he disrupted it.

"Hello Elliana, I'm Professor Dumbledore." He extended his hand, even though she was still several feet too far away to shake it. 

After staring at him a moment, she quickly glanced over to where her parents were standing. Finally, they looked at her, and her mother almost imperceptibly nodded her head. Taking a deep breath, Elliana crossed the distance between her and Dumbledore. Taking his hand in hers, she gently shook it and gave a quiet "Hello Sir."

After letting go of her hand, the man gestured to the armchair across from him as he returned to his seat on the sofa. She sat down, ignoring her still silent parents. She didn't notice the tear that slowly escaped her mother's eye as she sat. 

"Elliana, I'm here to tell you a story, a story about who you are." He finally acknowledged her parents as he glanced in their direction, seemingly looking for permission to continue speaking. At this point, Elliana looked to them as well and saw that her mother was crying softly.

"Mom, what's going on? Dad?"

Her mother sniffled and broke out into sobs as her father answered, "You're adopted Elliana."

"What? No. How? No.." She stuttered, questioning what she just heard. She looked to Dumbledore who nodded gently.

"Your birth parents had to hide you for your own safety, and these kind Muggles took you in and raised you, but it is time for you to come home." Dumbledore said bluntly.

Ignoring that she didn't know what a 'Muggle' was, Elliana turned angrily towards her parents and demanded, "Is it true? Why wouldn't you tell me? And now you're just going to give me back?! Like a book you borrowed from the library?!"

Wiping away her tears furiously, her mother spoke in a shaky voice. "We couldn't have children of our own, your father and I. When Mr. Dumbledore found us, he told us he had a child for us. We were so happy. When he said their was a catch to the adoption, we barely hesitated, we were so desperate to have a baby." She paused and looked at her daughter fondly, "It was more like we would be your foster parents. We would get to raise you and love you for years, until you were old enough to go back to your father. Back then, eleven years seemed like such a long time.. we meant to tell you so many times, but you truly became OUR child. We didn't want to acknowledge that one day we would have to lose you."

Ellie's anger lessened, and her eyes welled up with tears. She understood the idea of foster parents, but didn't understand how they could just not tell her, how they could lie to her.

Dumbledore, seemingly forgotten in the moment, gently cleared his throat to break the silence between the family. "Ellie, it was by my instruction that you not know who you really are. As I said, they raised you as a precaution, to keep you safe, and keep you ignorant to your heritage. You see, your parents, your birth parents, are wizards." Ellie had no words, she looked questioningly at Dumbledore, silently urging him to elaborate. He continued, "You are a witch. And I'd imagine a quite powerful one at that." He winked. "Our world would not have been safe for you before you learned to control your powers. We decided that it was safest for you to grow up safe and happy..."

"Who is this we?" She interrupted. "Who are you to make this decision that I couldn't be with my family?!"

Briefly surprised by her tone, Dumbledore took a beat before responding. "I have been a friend and a colleague to both of your parents. The decision was made together with you best interests in mind. I wish to tell you more, but I believe that you deserve to hear that story from your father. If you will come with me, he's eager to meet you."

She looked to her parents, who nodded and with a small, tear-streaked smile, her father said, "It's time."