Feathers (A Hogwarts Fanfiction)

Prologue

November, 1981

No one who has passed by Number 9 of Hummingbird Street would have guessed that a family of wizards and witches lived in it. In fact, they would not have seen the house at all.

The magical folk in discussion are the Hollands, and Mrs. Holland had cleverly placed a Fidelius Charm- amongst other enchantments -upon the house. She desperately (and reasonably) hid her family from her unreasonable relatives.

Mrs. Betty Holland's family took extreme pride in having had a series of Metamorphmagi in their bloodline- so much so that it developed an unhealthy obsession strong enough that they were willing to experiment on their relatives to find this rare ability.

Mr. George Holland was a Muggle who had no idea what he was marrying into until the night of his wedding, when he found that his wife had patches of bright green snake scales around her body. Ashamed of herself, Mrs. Holland explained to her kind husband what had taken place when she was just old enough to speak. She was tested to the boundaries, and had been forced to try becoming an Animagus despite how young she was.

And so they ensured that their children should not be found by her relatives, in case the Metamorphing blood descended upon them.

The suburban neighborhood would have, of course, noticed a few or more strange circumstances and details around the house- although they were nothing a simple invitation for tea and a False Memory Charm couldn't fix (for Mrs. Holland was rather good at magic).

Within the hidden Holland's residence you would find 5-year old Heather Holland being read a bedtime story by her father in her bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen, Mrs. Holland was dancing to Muggle music on the radio for she had learned that a certain Dark Lord had been defeated at last.

After her father had tucked her in and had switched off the light, Heather began to wonder. Looking up at the ceiling, she was curious to find out the reason behind her mother celebrating downstairs, and why her sister had given them several letters from her school, Hogwarts (by owl!).

Heather loved stories. And she would have loved to know the story to why these were happening. Most of all, she wanted to know when her own story could begin, for everyone seemed to have one to tell to another.

Heather sneezed. When she opened her eyes, she saw that her nose had become a dog's. She giggled and, with her eyes crossed, she wiggled her nose back to normal.

Heather turned aside; she began to feel sleepy. With a last look at her nose to see if it was the same as before, she closed her eyes and sighed.

And while dreams overcame Heather in her sleep, Heather would be glad to know that, in a few years time, her own story would begin.