The Mystery of the Philosopher's Stone.

Chapter 5: Hidden Depths

The next day was very hot. Harry had taken his new spell books into the garden. From her bedroom window, Etta could see him sitting on the garden chair with his books spread out across the table, a cool drink placed beneath the shade of the parasol. His nose was stuck in a book. She knew he would be occupied for a while.

Mr Green had gone to work and Etta could hear Mrs Green cleaning in the kitchen. Etta knew that this was the perfect opportunity to talk to her foster-mother about her concerns. She went purposefully downstairs. Mrs Green was just starting the washing up, her hands in soapy water.

"Would you like me to dry?" asked Etta.

Mrs Green was pleasantly surprised by this offer but also suspected that Etta had some other reason for this kind gesture.

"Is there anything you'd like to ask me?" Mrs Green said quietly.

"There is something, but it's not about my real parents."

Mrs Green was really intrigued now.

"I've noticed something strange happening to my teeth in the last few weeks. They are becoming pointed, like fangs and not just the incisors. Do you know of any reason why this should be happening?" Etta asked in a worried, tense manner, as if the painful business of asking the question was easier if asked faster.

Her foster-mother was silent for many moments thinking carefully about her response. Etta could see her considering and waited as patiently as she could.

Mrs Green cleared her throat and began,

"Even though you know me as your foster-mother, I am, in fact, distantly related to you. Your foster-father and I come from another world. We live here on Earth as humans, but our true forms are more like dinosaurs from your world. We live many hundreds of years, but we do not have many children. We are a small, long-lived race. I and my ancestors have visited the Earth many times. Our purpose is always to defeat evil magic wherever we find it in the universe. My race are also seers. We see the future. This is how we find out where and when evil magic will become dangerously powerful. My brother, Darktail had a vision of Grindelwald and his rise to power. Before he could act on this, Grindelwald was defeated in a duel by Albus Dumbledore the current Headmaster of Hogwart's in 1945. While Darktail was on Earth, he fell in love with a human woman and lived with her until she died. They had a daughter. She was part human, part dinosaur and she was your real grandmother. She had a vision which showed Voldemort coming back to power and knew that one of her race would need to return to Earth at that time. The dinosaur genes were present in your bloodline but have not shown themselves in your real father or Harry. It is just chance that they have shown themselves in you. Our people have many magical talents. I can use my powers to disguise your teeth. As you grow older other dinosaur characteristics may show themselves, like claw-like fingernails. This will depend on how strongly the dinosaur talents are present in your genes. I can also teach you the magic to disguise yourself."

"Does my ancestry come from one kind of dinosaur?" Etta asked eagerly.

"Our people descended from a number of dinosaurs. I cannot tell which dinosaur you may be most like until you are older," Mrs Green replied seriously. "But, if your power is strong enough, you may have the ability to change your human form to the dinosaur in your ancestry. Your foster-father and I have ornithomimus (ostrich) dinosaur heritage."

"Can you use your magic and disguise my teeth now?" Etta asked anxiously.

"Of course," Mrs Green replied.

She made Etta sit in front of her and asked her to close her eyes. Her hands were placed one on each cheek and she began to hum, a low chanting sound. Etta felt a cold numbness in her teeth and then Mrs Green removed her hands.

"Go and look in the mirror," she told Etta.

Etta got up instantly and examined her teeth. They looked completely normal. She turned to her foster-mother with a relieved smile.

"Thank you, they look just like they used to," Etta said brightly.

"I also wanted to ask whether you had any idea why Voldemort wanted to kill Harry?" she asked tentatively, wondering if her foster-mother would feel able to tell her even if she knew the answer.

"The truth of the matter is that your foster-father and I made a promise to Dumbledore, who placed you with us, that we would not discuss this with you, until Dumbledore told us we should do so. We were free to decide when to  tell you how your parents died. While Voldemort is powerless and alone, his reason for trying to kill Harry does not matter as he would not be in any condition to try to kill Harry again. If he regains his body and becomes powerful, we will ask Dumbledore if we can tell you then."

Etta was satisfied with this answer for now, but another question suddenly occurred to her.

"What about me? Did Voldemort also want to kill me?" she asked anxiously.

"No, as far as we know, he did not want to kill you. Don't worry about it at all. You have the potential to develop formidable magical gifts to protect yourself. You have nothing to fear."

Etta considered this for a few moments and then said excitedly.

"Could you start to train me now, as I have a whole year to wait until I go to Hogwart's? I am very keen to start learning about dinosaur magic right away.

" I will start to teach you how to use your dinosaur talents, but it takes many years and it will depend on how much talent you have inherited," she said smiling at Etta's enthusiasm.

And so they began.