Secret Daughter (A Harry Potter FanFic)

Chapter 2

As she walked upstairs to pack her trunk, Ellie kept going over and over what had just happened in her head. The shock of being adopted had almost completely overshadowed the seeming existence of magic, witches, and wizards. Several minutes into her parents convincing her that she had to go with Professor Dumbledore, it had suddenly hit her the absurdity of what he had said. Her parents were wizards? She asked and he confirmed that he too, in fact, was a wizard, and he proved it to her by causing all of the decorative figures her mother kept on the mantle to stand up and start dancing. 

The image replayed in her head as the reality of her situation sunk in. She was packing her bags to go live with a father she had never met- a father that just to happened to be a wizard. And oh yeah, magic was real. She looked around her large room, looked at all the stuffed animals, the trophies from her soccer team, her pictures of her friends on the mirror. She wondered how much of it she should take? Do wizards need hairbrushes? Or do they just cast a spell and their hair is perfect? She tossed the brush into the trunk just in case. As she looked around at what else to pack, everything seemed like it just wasn't important enough. Did these items really mean anything? This whole life that she had built was a lie. She piled up the clothes from her closet and tried her best to stuff them into the trunk. When she had packed everything she thought was essential, she dragged the trunk out of the room. She stopped in the doorway and turned to shut off the light behind her. She looked and saw her favorite stuffed animal sitting on her bed. It was a deer that she had had since she could remember. Quickly she grabbed the animal and shoved it into the bag on her shoulder. It couldn't hurt to bring one comfort item. And with that, she flipped the light switch and started to drag her luggage down the stairs. 

After struggling down a couple steps, suddenly the weight was lifted off her as her bags and trunk floated up into the air and drifted over to the front door where they stacked themselves neatly. Surprised, she looked at Dumbledore, who chuckled and winked a sparkling eye at her. 

"Are you ready?" He asked her. 

She gave each of her parents a half-hearted hug, still angry at their deception, but loving them regardless. She turned wordlessly away and followed Professor Dumbledore out the front door that he held open for her. 

Once outside, he waved his wand and her luggage disappeared. Before she could even ask the question, he explained, "Your luggage will be waiting for us when we arrive at Hogwarts. We will be apparating." 

"What is Hogwarts?"

"Hogwarts is the school you will be attending to learn how to use your powers. I am the Headmaster of the school and your father is a professor there as well." He held out his elbow to Elliana. "Now grab on, and hold tight, apparating can be a bit scary the first time."

She grasped his elbow, expecting him to feel frail in his old age, but was surprised to find him quite strong and squeezed tightly as she began to ask, "What is appa-" but before she could finish her question, she felt her entire world squeeze and twist down upon her. It felt like her internal organs were being pulled in every direction, and she couldn't see a thing. She could only feel Dumbledore's strong arm and she squeezed tighter, afraid if she didn't then she would be pulled off into space.

Abruptly, the squeezing sensation stopped. She felt her feet hit the ground, but felt incredibly light after the pressure that she had just felt. She let go of Dumbledore's arm and took a shaky step away before collapsing on the ground. 

"I did warn you the first time can be a doozy." He offered her his hand and picked her up off the ground. 

As she stood, she looked up the hill that they were standing at the base of. Sitting atop the hill was a spectacular castle. A real castle! The castle was made of stone and had gigantic ramparts and towers. One tower in the distance had birds flying around it. The sight was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. The sun setting behind the castle gave it an ethereal glow around the edges.

Dumbledore looked down at the small girl next to him, totally enraptured in the sight before her. He smiled, thinking fondly of the first time that he saw Hogwarts, and said "Welcome home Elliana."

Together, they walked through the enormous gate and up the cobblestone path towards the imposing front doors. The whole while, Elliana silently tried to take in the view around her. They walked in through the front doors, turned left and entered a large hall. Inside the hall were four long tables that spanned almost the entirety of the large space, with one shorter table on a raised dais at the head of the room. 

It was at this table that the inhabitants of the room sat. Elliana looked across the room to see about fifteen adults sitting at the table eating dinner. They were all more-or-less dressed in the same fashion as Professor Dumbledore, although mostly a bit more subdued. As they entered, all of these people turned and stared at them. Ellie's immediate reaction was to duck slightly behind Dumbledore so that he would act as a bit of a buffer between herself and these people above her. 

An older woman in rich, green robes addressed Dumbledore. "Good Evening Albus."

Ellie looked up at the woman who had spoken, everything about her screamed stern and serious. The robes she wore were beautiful, but not overly showy in the way that Dumbledore's were. Her hair was tucked into a tight bun, and her small horn-rimmed glasses emphasized her stare that was directed right at Elliana. She turned away from the keen gaze of this woman and scanned the rest of the table. Were her parents sitting there?

"Good Evening Minerva, everyone." Dumbledore smiled widely. He then looked down towards the end of the table and said "Severus, may I have a word?"

At this, the man dressed entirely in black robes rose from his seat at the table. He had long, black hair that hung limply over his face, a pallid complexion, and that same hooked nose that Ellie was always  so self-conscious about. He looked at Ellie with his dark eyes and she was immediately frightened and averted her eyes. Was this man her father? He looked so familiar, she saw many of her own features reflected in his face. She looked up again and met those dark eyes, sadness and pain had replaced the hardness she had immediately seen in them.

Wordlessly, he swept down from the table and crossed the hall in what seemed like only a few steps, his black cloak billowing behind him. When he stood in front of Dumbledore, he looked down at the small girl and asked tentatively, "Elliana?"

She looked up and nodded her head, almost afraid to meet his eyes again for fear of breaking out in tears.

"Shall we head up to my office?" Dumbledore offered as Severus Snape stood silently, seeing his daughter for the first time in eleven years. Snape nodded. Dumbledore turned, putting a hand on Elliana's shoulder and lead the pair up to his office.